Immigration Corner | Applying for a UK citizenship waiver application fee for a minor

Dear Mr Bassie,

I am 17 years old, and I would like to know whether I am eligible to get a waiver of a British citizenship application fee when I apply. I look forward to your response.

JK

Dear JK,

Persons can apply for a fee waiver, so they do not have to pay a citizenship application fee. If they are applying online for a fee waiver, they must get their decision before applying for citizenship.

If they turn 18 years old before getting a decision on the fee waiver application, they can still apply for citizenship as a child. Those persons will still get a fee waiver if they are eligible for it.

ELIGIBILITY

Persons can apply for a fee waiver if they are under 18 years old and are eligible for British citizenship.

They can become a British citizen if one of their parents considered the United Kingdom (UK) as their home and did any of the following after they were born:

• Became a British citizen

• Got indefinite leave to remain in the UK

• Got ‘settled status’ (also known as ‘indefinite leave to remain under the EU Settlement Scheme’)

• Received indefinite leave to enter the UK

• Received permanent residence status.

A person can apply for a fee waiver if they and their parent or guardian cannot pay the fee because:

• He/she does not have a place to live and cannot afford one

• He/she is unable to afford essential living costs like food and heating

• He/she does not have enough money to pay the fee after paying for their accommodation and other essential living costs

• Paying the fee would mean a child’s needs cannot be met

Please be aware that there is more information in the ‘affordability’ section of the guidance on how the Home Office will process a fee waiver application. Also, a parent or legal guardian can apply on behalf of the minor and they can include their other children in the same application.

Persons should not apply for a fee waiver if they are receiving assistance from a local authority. Instead, they should provide evidence of this when applying for citizenship and the application will be free.

APPLYING FOR A FEE WAIVER

Persons can either apply online or by post. If applying from Guernsey or Jersey they must apply by post, persons cannot currently apply for this fee waiver from the Isle of Man.

If persons apply for a fee waiver online and they are successful, they must also apply for citizenship online. If they cannot apply for both online, they must apply by post instead. To apply by post a person must fill in a child citizenship fee waiver request form and send it to the address on the form.

I hope this helps.

John S. Bassie is a barrister/attorney-at-law who practises law in Jamaica. He is a justice of the peace, a Supreme Court-appointed mediator, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a chartered arbitrator, the global president of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (UK). Email: lawbassie@yahoo.com