Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 4 January (HL4305), what assessment they have made of the differing fees for differing citizenship applications despite the same unit cost; where the additional income is allocated; and what the additional income is used for.

The Explanatory Memorandum to the Immigration and Nationality Fees Regulations 2014 sets out the rationale for the differential between fees for naturalisation and adult and child registration. Different fees are applied to registration and naturalisation fee because a concession is applied to registration provisions as they cater for people closely connected with the UK with sufficiently strong or established links to be able to register as a British Citizen. The fee for a child registering as a British Citizen is lower than the fee charged to an adult, as the entitlements conferred on a successful applicant are fewer.

Fees for immigration and nationality applications are set in line with the charging principles set out in the Immigration Act 2014, which include the cost of processing the application, the wider costs of running the Migration and Borders system and the benefits enjoyed by a successful application.

All income generated above the estimated unit cost is used to fund the wider Migration and Borders system.