§ Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the current cost of individual applications for United Kingdom citizenship (a) to the applicant and (b) to his Department, detailing how the figure is arrived at in respect of the direct cost of processing the application and the ancillary costs including the notional figure for police inquiries.
§ Mr. WaddingtonFees for citizenship under the British Nationality Act 1981 range from £10 to £200 depending on the nature of the application. The latest available figures of the costs of processing applications are for the financial year 1981–82. The cost of processing each application in the nationality division was £52.50, calculated by dividing the total cost of the division, £2,462,207, by the total number of certificates issued, 46,897.
The costs of police inquiries are calculated from information provided by 10 representative forces, and the immigration service also provide costs of its inquiries. In 1981–82 the average cost of these inquiries was £177.56 for naturalisation and £129.48 for discretionary registration.
§ Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the cost of United Kingdom citizenship applications to (a) successful applicants and (b) to unsuccessful applicants.
§ Mr. WaddingtonSince 1 April 1982 an application for citizenship has had to be accompanied by the appropriate fee. Under the British Nationality Act 1981, which came into force on 1 January 1983, these fees range from £10 to £200 according to the nature of the application. A successful applicant who is required to take the oath of allegiance also has to pay a statutory fee of £2 if the oath is administered other than before a justice of the peace. An unsuccessful applicant is refunded the fee sent with the application.
§ Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Minister of State's letter of 3 March to the hon. Member for Islington Central, if he will now exempt from fees or reduce the fees for United Kingdom citizenship applicants in receipt of supplementary benefit or family income supplement.
§ Mr. WaddingtonNo, for the reasons given in my letter of 3 March to the hon. Member.