What Are The British Naturalisation Fees (Cost) In 2019? [It’s EXPENSIVE]
The British naturalisation fee (cost) in 2019 for adults is £1,330. For children, the British naturalisation fee (cost) is £1012. This is the amount you have to pay the Home Office in order for them to process the AN1 or MN1 application (which is known as naturalisation).
The answer to this question may seem simple on the face of it, however the costs of applying for any application that results in you acquiring British citizenship are not always straightforward.
Below, we will talk about the possible costs of naturalisation and how and why they may vary.
The table below further summarises the costs of an adult applying for acquiring British citizenship via naturalisation in 2019:
| Fee Type | Cost |
| British Naturalisation Fee in 2019 (Form AN) | £1,330 |
| Translations | £0 – £180+ |
| English Language Test | £0 – £150+ |
| Life in the UK Test | £0 – £62.99 |
| Lawyer Fees | £0 – £3,000+ |
| Total Cost | £1,330 – £4,722.99 |
We will now discuss the fees in a little more detail.
1. Form AN Application Fee
If you are already a British citizen, you simply require to apply for a British passport here. Make sure you look in to this before making your application, as you may not be refunded your fee if you make an erroneous application.
What is the cost?
The current Home Office application fee in 2019 is £1,330 (for adults). However, the fee rises on a yearly basis so we would advise you to make your application as soon as possible.
If the person applying for naturalisation as a child, the relevant fee is £1012 (which is the cost to submit Form MN).
2. Translations
Many people miss the fact that any documents which are not in English or Welsh need to be translated.
There is a chance your application could be refused if you fail to do this.
There is not an option to translate the documents yourself, as the requirement is that the documents are translated by a Home Office approved translator.
You may need to employ translation services to translate documents such as your marriage certificate, a previous partners death certificate, your child’s birth certificate, your divorce certificate or your degree certificate.
What is the cost?
The exact cost will be dependant on the amount of documents you need translated.
The average cost to translate one page is £60 and the average cost of translating two pages is £90.
3. English Language Test
In order to meet the requirements of naturalisation, you require to meet the English language requirement.
The requirement is that you pass an English language test at Level B1 CEFR or higher, from the Home Office approved list.
You may or may not require to sit an English test at this stage, dependent on your path to British citizenship.
If you currently have Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), you will have already passed an English test for your ILR application.
You will not be required to sit another one at this stage as the pass level is the same.
As a general rule, if you are a non-EU national you will not need to pay for another English test at this stage.
However, if you are an EU national or the family member of an EU national, you will not have already sat any English tests previously as there is no English language requirement at the Permanent Residence (PR) stage.
So as a general rule, if you have PR then you will need to pay for an English test when applying for citizenship.
What is the cost?
Two of the more popular tests are the IELTS Life Skill test and the Trinity College London test.
Both of these cost £150, so this is around what you would have to pay.
If you fail the test and need to sit it again, the cost will be £150 each time.
You may be exempt from sitting the test if:
i. You are a national of a ‘majority English-speaking country. The following countries are classed as such:
Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; the Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Canada; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; New Zealand; St Kitts and Nevis; St Lucia; St Vincent and the Grenadines; Trinidad and Tobago; or the United States of America.
ii. You are over 65 years old at the date of application.
iii. You have a long term physical or mental condition which means you cannot sit the test.
You must provide a medical note as evidence in this case.
iv. You are the holder of a degree certificate that was taught or researched in the UK, or that was taught outside the UK in English.
You must provide evidence from UK NARIC, that the degree is the equivalent to a UK qualification or that it was taught in English.
If you are not certain that your degree meets these requirements, then it may be simpler just to take the English test.
4. Life in the UK Test
Another requirement of the application for naturalisation is that you must pass the Life in the UK test.
If you have Indefinite Leave to Remain and are a non-EU national, you will already have passed your Life in the UK test when you made your application for ILR. You will not have to pay to pass it again.
If you have Permanent Residence as an EU national (or a family member of an EU national) you will not already have passed the Life in the UK test. You will need to sit and pay for the test in order to apply for British naturalisation.
What is the cost?
The cost of the test is £50. Of course, each time you fail the test you will require to pay another £50.
You should also buy a copy of Life in the United Kingdom: a guide for new residents (3rd Edition) to help you study for the test.
The book costs between £9.99 and £12.99 and can be purchased online here.
5. Legal Fees
An application for naturalisation can seem quite daunting and you may wish to employ the services of an immigration lawyer to help with your application.
What is the cost?
The services of a lawyer can cost anything between £750 and £3,000 (for London based lawyers).
That does sound like a lot of money and you might speculate as to why it costs so much. Immigration lawyers charge these prices for 3 reasons:
- Expertise – the law surrounding citizenship and British citizenship can be very complex. A decent immigration lawyer will spend hundreds of hours researching the law and guidance, which a lay person may find extremely boring and difficult to get through. As everyone’s situation is different, the rules will need to be looked over again for every application.
- Time commitment – it can be very time consuming taking instructions and preparing your case. It will inevitably be a long process if it is done well. In order to make sure you meet all the requirements, your documents will require to be checked in detail. Filling in the application form, managing files/records and dealing with any follow up mail or enquiries can take up a considerable amount of an immigration lawyers time.
- Stress – we understand how stressful making an application for citizenship can be. We don’t want you to worry about your application – we know that some of you have waited over 10 years in order to apply for citizenship and you want to make sure you get it right. This can in turn be stressful for an immigration lawyer! There are occasions when all the correct steps and actions have been taken, however the Home Office still refuses the application.
Of course, you can always prepare and send away your application without using an immigration lawyer. You wont have to pay anything towards your legal fees but you will have to commit a lot of time and hard work.
Total Cost of British Naturalisation (if you are not a British citizen already)
Therefore, the cost of British can be between £1,330 and £4,722 for adults and £1012 and £4404 for children.
The total cost is determined by how many translations you need, whether you need to sit the English language test, whether you need to sit the Life in the UK test and if you decide to employ a legal expert to assist you with your application.
The cost can also vary dependent on the length of time it can take to apply for naturalisation, but we will cover this in further detail elsewhere.
In the meantime, we hope that you have an approximate idea as to how much it will cost to make the application for British citizenship.