The government has updated its guidance to prevent people who arrive in the UK illegally, or made a “dangerous journey”, from getting British citizenship.
An update to the Home Office’s guidance for caseworkers, entitled Nationality: Good Character Requirement, states that anyone applying for British citizenship from Monday who arrived in the UK illegally “will normally be refused, regardless of the time that has passed since the illegal entry took place”.
Another new entry to that guidance reads: “A person who applies for citizenship from 10 February 2025 who has previously arrived without a required valid entry clearance or electronic travel authorisation, having made a dangerous journey will normally be refused citizenship.
“A dangerous journey includes, but is not limited to, travelling by small boat or concealed in a vehicle or other conveyance.”
The change to the rules, first disclosed by the Free Movement blog, makes it almost impossible for anyone who arrived on a small boat across the English Channel to ever get British citizenship. Previously, refugees who had arrived on a small boat would have needed to wait 10 years before being considered for citizenship.
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A Home Office spokesperson said in a statement: “There are already rules that can prevent those arriving illegally from gaining citizenship.
“This policy guidance further strengthens measures to make it clear that anyone who enters the UK illegally, including small boat arrivals, faces having a British citizenship application refused.”
Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, called for the guidance to be reverted “as soon as possible”.
She wrote on X: “This should be changed asap. If we give someone refugee status, it can’t be right to then refuse them route to become a British citizen, to say they can have a home in our country, but never a place in our society and be forever second class.”
Colin Yeo, an immigration barrister and editor of the Free Movement blog, wrote on Bluesky: “This is bad, full stop. It creates a class of person who are forever excluded from civic life no matter how long they live here. It’s also a clear breach of the refugee convention.”
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “This change flies in the face of reason. The British public want refugees who have been given safety in our country to integrate into and contribute to their new communities, so it makes no sense for the government to erect more barriers.
“We know that men, women and children who are refugees want to feel part of the country that has given them a home, and support to rebuild their lives.”
“So many refugees over many generations have become proud, hard-working British citizens, as doctors, entrepreneurs and other professionals. Becoming a British citizen has helped them give back to their communities and this should be celebrated, not prevented. We urge ministers to urgently reconsider.”
It comes after Labour’s new border security bill, which scraps the previous government’s Rwanda deportation scheme and boosts police powers against people smugglers, cleared its first vote in the House of Commons on Monday.
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill sets out Labour’s plan to treat people smugglers like terrorists, and creates a new crime of endangering another person during an illegal crossing in the Channel.
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.
Source: Politics
