Home Office accused of shutting out thousands, as new guidance says those applicants will ‘normally be refused’
The Home Office has been accused of quietly blocking thousands of refugees from applying for citizenship if they arrived in the UK by small boats or hidden in vehicles.
Guidance for staff assessing people who have applied for naturalisation says that, since Monday, applicants who have “made a dangerous journey will normally be refused citizenship”.
The Refugee Council said that the move will potentially bar 71,000 people who have successfully applied for asylum from claiming UK citizenship. A leading immigration barrister has claimed that it is a breach of international law.
The development will be seen as the latest evidence that Keir Starmer’s government has adopted a hardline “hostile environment” stance on asylum to fight off a poll surge by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Senior Tories claim that the government’s new border security bill, which passed its second reading on Monday, will repeal parts of the Illegal Migration Act, which would stop irregular arrivals from becoming British citizens.
One Labour MP has joined charities in calling for the government to reverse the guidance with immediate effect.
Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, wrote on X: “This should be changed asap. If we give someone refugee status, it can’t be right to then refuse them [a] route to become a British citizen.”
The changes, first disclosed by the Free Movement blog, were introduced to guidance for visa and immigration staff on Monday.
Described as a “clarification” to case worker guidance when assessing if a claimant is of “good character’, it says: “Any person applying for citizenship from 10 February 2025, who previously entered the UK illegally will normally be refused, regardless of the time that has passed since the illegal entry took place.”
In another new entry to the same guidance, it says: “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.”
Most people who enter the UK on small boats are eventually granted refugee status. A majority of those granted refugee status eventually claim British citizenship. Seeking UK citizenship costs £1,630 an application, and there is no right of appeal against a refusal.
Colin Yeo, an immigration barrister and editor of the 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.”
Article 31 of the UN refugee convention says: “The contracting states shall not impose penalties, on account of their illegal entry or presence, on refugees.”
Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the move “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 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.”
The Home Office was accused on Monday of “enabling the mainstreaming of racism” after releasing footage for the first time showing people being removed from the UK.
The government believes its record on migration could help retain Labour voters tempted by Farage’s party. On Sunday, it released footage of immigration raids for illegal workers, prompting the MP Diane Abbott to say: “Trying to present ourselves as Reform-lite is a big mistake.”
Home office insiders said the guidance rules were tightened so that the government would replace the ban that was imposed by the cancelled Illegal Migration Act.
The IMA disqualified refugees who arrived in the UK by irregular means from claiming UK citizenship.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “There are already rules that can prevent those arriving illegally from gaining citizenship.
“This 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.”
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