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!

The trouble being I feel that for every honest of proper person there are 20 [50, 100 who knows] that come in illegally on a boat or lorry etc etc and then our weak country does nothing about them.

They are the ones that claim claim claim.

And they are the ones that people get angry about.

Even when they commit crimes we molly coddle them.

Sorry, but bollocks. You have no idea what you are talking about.

In order to claim benefits, you need documentation. Where do you imagine you'd get that if you came in illegally? The only people who get to come in without documentation and then get looked after, are genuine asylum seekers. My brother works with people like this and believe me, you would not wish your worst enemy to be a genuine asylum seeker. You find people whose families have been executed, who have had to run away from their homes with nothing in case they were shot without trial - it is awful.

These people, though are not the same as immigrants. You are confusing the two. You do not get benefits without documentation. You do not get to claim. This is a lie that idiots believe.

And do you believe people cannot get the documentation if they want to.

Believe me it is easy.

For people complaining about the cost of getting British passports overseas, did you know that you can book passport office appointments in advance to coincide with trips to the UK and pay a lot less? And you can do this something like 9 or 10 months before the expiry date.

But it's not the passport that gives you nationality: you can easily have the nationality without needing a passport. So, if you have another passport and are happy with that for travelling, there's no need to buy a British one if you're entitled to nationality in any case.

I agree. People seem to think that's a once off fee but that's just the last one in a long line of costs.
Once you're eligible for citizenship, you'll normally have been in the country for several years paying renewable visa fees constantly.
When I got my citizenship I sat down and counted up how much I'd paid to the Home Office and it was just over £10,000 in total.
That included having to pay £500 to put a copy of a visa I'd already been granted into my new passport. I was particularly about that because the only reason I needed a new passport (and a new copy of the visa) was because the Home Office lost my old one!
And as for the comments about cost to the country/NHS etc: I do pay tax and NI and have done since I arrived.

Oh ... are you admitting you are a fake claimant?

Well - maybe. But trust me, the vast majority of people are not. You are ignorant to think they are all like you. I wouldn't boast about it if I were you either. You will get caught and you will get sent back, and I hope you will then feel ashamed for giving a bad name to genuine claimants.

I think today we live a consumer driven society so if you don't think the fee is worth it....don't pay it. I hate this impression that we are somehow begging/defrauding people by charging a fee. No one is making anyone pay it.

Secondly. I do question people have been here for a decade saying they couldn't possibly afford it.... I'm sick of hearing how much immigrants contribute in tax each year so they shouldn't have to pay to be British. Well if you can't afford £800 a decade after arriving you are hardly setting HM revenue and customs alights with your tax contribution are you?

I am not a fake claimant. I am English born here as were my family going back 100's of years, and I have never claimed any benefits, I feel you maybe the ignorant one.

But this is hyjacking the thread and I am sorry to the op.

remains I agree if Britain is such a great place that you want to live and work here, you have to pay for the privilege.

remains - I don't think it's like that. DH and I can afford 800 every three years (not really the same as a decade), but it does feel kind of crap on top of him being headhunted for his job (who had to prove they couldn't find a UK candidate to fill the position), and him proving he had money to support himself while they checked his visa application - that meant him being unable to get a job or to move out of the country for nine months, so he had to have a lot of money there.

If someone said openly, 'you can only immigrate if you earn over 40k and have savings of 20k', at least that would be honest. My problem is, they don't say that. They say people like my DH can immigrate, then they charge them huge amounts for doing so.

cat - ah, so you were lying when you claimed you knew about getting fake documents? OK then.

Yes, but don't we want people who actually contribute?

I'm a little suspect and anyone coming to another country and not earning enough to save £800. It hardly fills you with confidence that they can really support themselves, does it?

I think cat was just talking in general we all watch the news and current affair progs, I saw one recently with an under cover reporter obtaining fake passports and driving licenses.

remains - well, I think Dh does contribute. He pays higher rate taxes that UK people on his income. He paid overseas student fees for three years (and education is one of the UK's biggest exports). His parents paid school fees fro 11 years before that.

What else do you want him to do?

He does contribute.

cushions - but cat was, I think, misinformed. I am really sure she is. I mean, it doesn't take a genius, does it? If the forms are fake, they have to be paid for. So the people who can afford fake forms - do we think they somehow magically can't afford the legit process?

Seems very unlikely, doesn't it?!

Maybe, I don't really know.

The forms were not dear £20 for a passport.

Yes, and I'm absolutely convinced that with a fake passport, DH would need spend no extra cash on (oh, wait!) the other many forms you need to prove you're legit.

Please stop implying that everyone is as crooked as you seem to assume is natural. Most people go by the rules, and know that if they were found to be cheated, they would be deported.

But as said above somewhere if it is that important that you want to stay in this country and live and work, do as your told or get out. SIMPLES.

Well, thank goodness it's not you doing the telling, eh cushions? Despite your rather unpleasant viewpoint, we still seem both to be welcome here - probably because, unlike you perhaps, we contribute and are of value.

Of course it's possible for migrants to come here illegally, get fake documents and claim benefits.

More likely, they come here, live 3 to a room, claim no benefits, and work 14 hours a day in jobs no one else wants in order to send money back to their families.

Anyway I don't see how charging legal migrants a fortune does anything to deter illegal immigration.

Oh dear this thread has gone a bit haywire.

But to add to jericho.... yes you are welcome very welcome as long as you pay what you are suppose to pay and work.

'Do as you're told or get out'

Imagine if Brits abroad had to follow this golden rule...

Actually, iamme, I'm welcome even if I do bugger and and don't work ... I was born a British citizen.

But thanks, so much.

jer...................... but your op was not. And that was who you were talking about.