British Citizenship fees - why in the name of sanity.....

[Lottapianos]

.... do I have to pay EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS to have a form processed?

Sorry for shouting but it drives me around the bend. I'm happy to pay a fee but Christ on a bendy bus! They say it's to cover the administration costs and the cost of the citizenship ceremony you get invited to if/when your application gets approved. I can only imagine it must be an Elton-John-style White Tie and Diamonds Ball if that's how much they are charging!

Anyone shed light on why it's so bloody expensive? Is there a good reason or are they just taking the you-know-what? Thanks!

I'm afraid that I think they are just taking the you-know-what!

It's politics I suppose and what are you going to do?

There is an article about it here that says no-one seems to know where the money goes
migrantsrights.org.uk/blog/2010/09/paying-high-price-migration-visa-fees-set-go-again

I think you have every right to be annoyed. It is a ridiculous amount of money even with Elton John

I dont think its a HUGE amount to live and work in a country with the NHS? any other country would cost the same and you would have to oay some extras on top no?

It's not something that should be paid for out of general taxation, the migrants should pay the full cost. So the fees should be set to cover the cost of the service, so unless you can show that there's massive inefficiency, or profit taking by the organisation YABU.

You could migrate to a different EU country, and then simply use the passport of that country to live and work here if it's cheaper.

its to keep poor people out.
To have anyone tick a form seems to cost a fortune.

All depends on what they actually do to process the form.

If it's a half hour read through and a rubber stamp then YANBU however if your background is carefully and thoroughly checked to make sure you are a fit and proper person to be allowed the privilege of being granted British Citizenship then I suspect they are not even covering their costs.

The ceremony is to check if you can drink tea and eat a cucumber sandwich with decorum!

Part of the reason I will never apply for citizenship, along with a test that the citizen's can't pass.

Have no idea what the NHS has to do with it, as I pay taxes/NI like everyone else.

Then why do we have to pay for passports at all, especially if we have one and we lose them, or our children turn 16?

I have to pay for my CRB and GSCC registration, every legal document has to be paid for, driving licences, replacement birth and death certificates etc.

Considering what it is, it should be a lot more expensive. I know people who are paying much more to emigrate to Australia.

think its up to £30K for australia, UKs a bargain

and my aussie SIL said citizen test is not all shite, its sensible questions like how the coutry is run rather than who won the battle of trafalger type stuff!

I think its a good idea to have basic knowledge oh how country runs

fuck knows how they do it for italy, but anyway...............

It's gotten absolutely ridiculous. I did my application in October 2005 and the cost has more than doubled since then (possibly even trebled)! I had the citizenship ceremony too, so I can't see that making up the enormous difference.

The ceremony is mumbling some stuff and singing God Save the Queen along with a bunch of other people. I'd be expecting a private dinner with an MP to be paying over 800 quid!

Same as the US one, porc. It's actually questions about US government and history. As a citizen, I could pass it with no thought. As a UK citizen my husband could pass it with a bit of studying, if he wanted to.

There is no way I could pass the UK one. Barmy!

That is nothing. It costs lots more to be allowed into Canada, Australia etc. And of course it is to try and dissuade poor people who would be a burden on the welfare state. To be allowed to emigrate to Canada you have to be able to prove that you have several thousand pounds in your bank account.

Lotta, are you the woman I saw in Waterstones the other day buying a pile of books about British Manners, and Country Living, the art of Quilting and British Horsemanship (and the like) because she was studying for her Citizenship exams? If so (and also if not) Good Luck!

@porcamiseria. I recently obtained French citizenship. No fee. And excellent healthcare as well.

The OP presumably is already a permanent resident so she will have the NHS independently of whether she becomes a citizen. If she has a more than an icecube's in hell chance of getting it then she works and pays taxes. If she has come to Britain as a young adult then she is likely more profitable for the NHS than an native. (The British economy will get all the benefit of her active years without having paid for her childhood.)

I must admit, thinking of citizenship of a country as something you buy strikes me as very odd. Either the OP is a fully integrated productive member of British society - in which case she should be allowed to become a citizen - or she isn't and shouldn't.

No, not me QuintessentialyHollow, sorry! Whoever she is, she sounds very em, dedicated, though.....

I am an EU citizen already (born and grew up in Ireland) and have been living in UK for 12 years. Before you all wonder why I'm bothering, I know I don't have to apply for citizenship but I consider myself British now and would like to make it official. It means a lot to me.

Of course I think migrants should foot the bill themselves but I thought £850 was outrageous. Not so much compared to other countries it seems!

@Callisto, Porcamiseria. I think you're confusing visas and naturalisation. The OP has already come to Britain, has been living here probably a long time, and now whishes to become British. The main change is probably whether she can vote or not.

@Callisto. Proving that you have several thousands in your bank account is very different from handing those several thousands over.

you are EU, then why bother!!!

but I get it, quite touched actually

kirsty, I came here aged 20, was a student for 2 years, and have worked full-time for the NHS and paid tax for the past 10 years. I have used the NHS but not excessively, I have no children and don't use many free public services. So you're right - the UK is getting a good deal out of me already!

The fee is set above the cost of actually processing the paperwork to help contribute to the wider costs of the immigration system, so that it costs the general taxpayer less. Plus it reflects the huge benefits of being a Brit Cit.

More details in this statement from the Immigration Minister

www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/news/wms-fees-feb-2012.pdf

I think the fees are outrageous! They are not so much in other countries, my French long-term resident card just cost ?100, the equivalent in the UK I think is up to £900.

I also think it's disingenous to say it's to cover the direct costs of processing. When I applied for a UK visa as an EU spouse, I didn't have to pay anything, because it was the EU route. So presumably all the non-EU applicants are also covering the costs of people like me who don't have to pay anything (which is a lot of people). How is that fair?

x-post with CHT

my husband is not uk or eu, we have so far had to pay for him to be here and live with me, pay for him to continue to do so after two years and will have to pay again for him to be naturalised (become a british citizen) if we choose so. £850 is just for the moment, after April there will be yet another price hike and no doubt the cost will be more like £1000. He has already completed the Life in the UK test, so its not impossible to pass - like any test it is recommended that you study first...
He already lives here and pays his taxes, he uses the nhs doctors if unwell like everyone else does or is entitled too. The thing that bothers me about the whole thing is the ceremony that you HAVE to attend, regardless of whether it is inconveneint, not nearby etc etc...

It's like all things - the government have you over a barrel, if you want this, so can charge whatever they like.

I think passports should be free - I think it should be an automatic thing that every citizen gets. The cost of a passport is extortionate.

Wot kirsty75005 said... by the time you get to apply for Citizenship, the person will have lived and worked in the UK for some time, paid taxes and NI etc. and a shedload in visa/ settlement fees if they are a non-EU national

Mr Palooza is an SA national, currently here on a spouse visa which was granted in September 2010 at a cost of around £800. The visa specifically excludes "recourse to public funds" i.e. he cannot claim any "benefits" (including secondary and tertiary healthcare... he's only entitled to primary care and emergency treatment). He has been working full time and paying tax and NI in the UK since October 2010.

He can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain from September of this year (at a further cost of £810) but will in all likelihood still be excluded from claiming any sort of public benefits. He will have to take the Life in the UK Test at that point. He will continue to work and pay tax and NI, despite being excluded from using anything but the fundamental services offered by the NHS.

After 3 years on ILTR (5 years of living and working in the UK and paying tax and NI) he will be entitled to apply for Citizenship, at a further cost.

Only at that point will he be fully entitled (if appropriate and necessary) to claim all the benefits afforded to UK and EU nationals.

h, so in answer to the OP YADNBU, although am interested to hear how spenny it is in other countries.