The UK Home Office has released specific guidelines for children under 18 seeking a fee waiver when applying for British citizenship. According to the guidance, children who meet the requirements for British citizenship but face severe financial hardship may qualify for an exemption from the registration fee. The Home Office has identified a specific group of applicants who should not apply for the fee waiver.
Children who are currently in the care of a local authority have been instructed not to submit a fee waiver application. Instead, looked-after children should provide evidence confirming their local authority care status alongside their British citizenship application. Under the relevant provisions, citizenship applications made by young people in local authority care are processed free of charge.
Children under 18 who meet the requirements for British citizenship may apply for a fee waiver if paying the registration fee would cause severe financial hardship. The Home Office considers circumstances such as not having adequate accommodation, being unable to afford basic living costs, including food and heating, and having insufficient income after paying essential housing and everyday living expenses.
A parent or legal guardian can submit the application on behalf of a child. Families may also be able to include multiple eligible children from the same family unit in one fee waiver submission. Eligible applicants can submit fee waiver requests online or by post, with exceptions for some regions.
Applicants living in Guernsey or Jersey must submit their applications by post, while people living in the Isle of Man are currently not eligible to apply for this particular fee waiver scheme. Where an online fee waiver application is approved, the subsequent British citizenship application must also be submitted through the official online application service.
The guidance distinguishes between children facing financial hardship who may qualify for a fee waiver and looked-after children, whose citizenship applications have separate arrangements for being processed without a fee. The UK government had previously published official guidance on how stateless individuals could register as British citizens.
Adults aged 18 and over face a total cost of £1,670, while applicants under 18 pay a reduced fee of £1,000. Children who cannot afford the registration fee could be eligible to apply for a fee waiver before submitting their applications. The article was published on September 29, 2026, at 9:03 AM by Salifu Bagulube Moro.
Key points
- Children in local authority care should not apply for the UK citizenship fee waiver and must follow a separate route.
- Children under 18 who face severe financial hardship may qualify for an exemption from the registration fee.
- Eligible applicants can submit fee waiver requests online or by post, with exceptions for some regions.
