Reverse guidance stopping refugees gaining citizenship

The 'Nationality: good character requirement' guidance was updated on 10 February 2025, preventing many refugees from ever becoming British citizens. We urge ministers to urgently reverse this policy or update the guidance to confirm refugees are exempt.

The guidance states that anyone who entered the UK illegally/having made a dangerous journey will “normally” be refused British citizenship.

Many refugees who entered the UK through irregular means will therefore be prevented from ever becoming British - no matter how long they live in the UK or the contributions they make.

We believe this policy breaches Article 31 and Article 34 of the Refugee Convention.

For many generations, refugees who have arrived on resettlement routes and who have settled in the UK have been able to apply for British citizenship if they meet the conditions. Those wishing to naturalise need to meet the statutory requirements set out in the British Nationality Act 1981, which include the requirement that the individual should be of good character.

There is no definition of good character in primary legislation, nor is there statutory guidance as to how this requirement should be interpreted or defined. Changes to the good character policy are therefore at the discretion of the Home Secretary, and it is left for them to determine how it is applied.

The previous government's Illegal Migration Act introduced a statutory ban on granting citizenship to anyone who arrived in the country through irregular routes, a measure that proved completely unworkable, contained minimal discretion to recognise exceptional circumstances, and was never properly implemented.

For example, it would have meant that someone smuggled into the UK against their will in the back of a lorry and forced to work in a sweatshop or brothel could have been rescued from that servitude, and provided with support to recover from their treatment, but would still never have been eligible to become a British citizen.

That measure has been repealed by the current Government, and replaced with the new guidance published in February, including provision to exercise discretion where appropriate depending on the circumstances of each case.

However, the Government is also clear that we must also do all we can to prevent people making dangerous small boat crossings, putting their lives in the hands of organised criminal gangs who earn millions of pounds from facilitating that illegal traffic across the Channel.

The good character guidance issued in February therefore makes it clear that anyone who enters the UK illegally, or who arrives without a required valid entry clearance or electronic valid authorisation having made a dangerous journey, including small boat arrivals regardless of their date of entry, will normally be refused British citizenship.

We consider that people seeking to become British citizens should demonstrate equal regard for immigration legislation as we expect them to show for other aspects of the law, including the Criminal Justice System.

This is compatible with Article 31 of the 1951 Refugee Convention, which states that refugees may be refused citizenship if they entered illegally having first travelled across several safe countries. We have always been clear that those seeking protection are expected to seek it in the first safe country they reach, and without delay. They should not, for example, travel across several European countries to claim asylum in the UK.

Irregular arrivals by small boat are, by their very nature, unlikely to have reached the UK without being present in a safe third country beforehand. Consequently, and in line with international obligations, refugees and those granted humanitarian protection may be refused citizenship where they entered illegally having travelled across several safe countries.

Nevertheless, and as a key difference from the blanket policy proposed by the previous government, each citizenship application will continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis considering all positive and negative factors. The Secretary of State may choose to apply discretion on an exceptional basis where, despite factors that would normally lead to refusal on grounds of poor character, there are particularly exceptional, compelling, or mitigating circumstances.

We consider that to be a more proportionate means of addressing the concerns raised by the petitioners than scrapping the good character requirement for refugees seeking to apply for citizenship that has been part of our legal system since 1981. As such, we are unable to accept that proposal.

Home Office