§ Mr. SternTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he intends to increase the fee levels for citizenship applications.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerCitizenship fees were last changed in April 1986 and some increases are necessary to recoup the forecast costs of dealing with citizenship applications. Regulations amending the British Nationality (Fees) Regulations 1984 are being laid before Parliament today with the intention that the following fee levels should come into operation on 1 March 1991:
Present fees (£) New fees (£) Registration (adult or minor) 60 85 Naturalisation on grounds of marriage 60 135 All other naturalisations 170 170 The opportunity has been taken to remove the element of cross-subsidisation between the various categories of case which has come to light since fee levels were last revised. Although this has led to a considerable increase in the fee for applicants for naturalisation on the grounds of marriage, there is no increase for other naturalisation cases —about one third of all applicants—and a more modest increase in the fee for registration cases.
The existing arrangements for joint applicants will be unchanged: husbands and wives applying together for naturalisation will continue to pay one single fee, as will minor children of the same parent applying together for registration.
The practice of charging a nominal fee in respect of applications which are subsequently withdrawn or refused has been reviewed. This fee, currently £10, falls far short of the costs of processing such applications and the balance of costs incurred is currently met by the taxpayer. The Government consider that nationality fees should be set so as to cover the full costs involved in processing applications; and unsuccessful applicants who apply on or after 1 March 1991 will pay the full cost of processing their applications. This will be £60 for registration, £130 for naturalisation on grounds of marriage and £135 for other naturalisation.
The new regulations will also increase the fees payable to the Home Office for renouncing citizenship and for supplying copy certificates and other documents from £10 to £15. The fee for administering the oath of allegiance which is payable to the person administering the oath will be increased from £3 to £3.50 in order to bring it in line with fees for analogous work under the Commissioners for Oaths (Fees) Order 1988.
It is expected that the revised fee levels will provide sufficient income to meet the costs of processing applications over the period March 1991 to March 1992.