I have expended over £128,000 in costs to the Home Office for application fees, NHS surcharges, and solicitors fees for a family of 4 over the period of 14 years without a British Passport yet. I still have a few more years to obtain my citizenship with a further probable cost of £29,250 for two applicants as two of my children now have citizenship. I don't want to write about my pain on this platform but it feels like a money-making machine for the government against immigrants. Congratulations!

Yours was straight forward, There's what is called the 10 year rule where if you had breached immigration rules, you will have to fulfil 10 years with your indefinite leave before you are eligible to apply for citizenship, many people have tried to apply before their time and lost all the money, it is not refundable.

I can’t believe how much it costs and all the steps it takes to acquire UK citizenship. I’m a Brit and have just acquired Belgian citizenship through their naturalisation process after living in Belgium for 5 years. It only cost me €200, so around £170. For the UK to charge that much seems simply like a tax on those who want to commit to the country. Which seems wrong. But anyway, congratulations!

With regards to the final citizenship application, depending on your circumstances, you may have to make an appointment with UKVCAS which can run from free to £200+ depending on time, location, and services provided at the appointment (I’ve just been through the process).

It's not fair to always get the calculators out! It is genuinely wise to be financially prudent especially in an expensive land like the UK. However, the true blessings are the opportunities that you have access to here and the fairly strong respect for law across all the UK regions.

When applying for ILR you do not pay IHS as you only pay it before you enter the UK and pay it again when you extend following 2.5 years but not when applying for ILR. Just went through this process and we were lucky to get a response within 2.5 months. Awesome service from Home Office despite the pressure they’re under. Get your documents right first time and you’ll have no issues.

Hi Poppy thanks for sharing this, yes coming on a spouse visa does not give you an automatic pass to UK citizenship however, you do have a very high probability rate that you will eventually become one (you and hubby still together at the end of the required tenure) but please, spare a thought for international students who come to the UK to study and eventually decide to settle down to build a life. The £11k+ you spent over a 5yr period is easily surpassed x 2 in a year to maintain your visa....an international student studying for a 1yr Masters program can easily spend over £30k+ to achieve the same result as you. Congratulations my dear and wishing you all the best.

Hi Poppy, I would say I can share your experience also. My wife which is from the Philippines came to UK in 2010 with a fiancé visa which was much quicker for us to apply and luckily she did not have to take the English test in her country and pay for the NHS charge but, in all we spent a bit more because we got married in the UK. Wish you Good luck with the British Citizenship application and your future in the UK 😉👍

Wow, you make me realised how blessed I am being part of Europe. I paid only 1300 ish, for my test , ceremony etc. The process was easier. I never had to take visa.

Marrying a UK national, does not even give you any entry rights, most of us struggle to do the life in the UK test Having a UK passport, makes international travel a lot less hassle too

Just gone through this. Thought I'd finish paying after I got my indefinitely leave to remain. But if I want the British passport, it is another £2000 :(

I sadly don't qualify for Ancestry citizenship in the UK so I crunched the numbers of citizenship via work/student visa (~£15,000 over the course of 10 years) and partnership visa (~£12,000 over the course of 5 years). Wow.

I been this country for 21 years I don’t no how to speak no other languages apart from English and I still had to pay 150 pounds for a English test that’s a criminal act

IRL is now £2404 & British citizenship is £1330 NHS fee is not applicable to IRL

The Home Office is absolutely fleecing immigrants. As a UK/Canadian citizen who's both gone through Canadian immigration and now US immigration - I wouldn't want to subject my worst enemy to the nightmare that is the UK system. Here's the breakdown of my immigration costs...though I haven't done the Removal of Conditions or US Citizenship yet. Canada (Express Entry - FSWP) Credential Assessment: $172 IELTS: £170 Immigration Medical Exam: £330 UK Police Certificate: £55 PR Application Fee: £560 Right of PR Fee: £340 Citizenship: £415 Total: £2,042 USA (Spousal CR-1) Form I-130: £462 DS-260: £281 UK Police Certificate: £55 Canadian Police Certificate: £46 Affidavit of Support: £103 Immigration Medical Exam: £230 Immigrant Fee: £220 Removal of Conditions: £587 Citizenship: £627 Total: £2,611 The total costs for both Canadian and US immigration journeys don't even exceed the cost for the UK leave to remain *alone* which comes to £3,122!

I hold a indefinite leave to remain visa, and costed me nothing, not even a single penny. The reason behind that is I suffered domestic violence. They help me apply and receive all this in about three months.

A German citizenship costs me roughly €220 for processing fees, and about €500 for a german test and citizens test. I think the passport and ID card were about €100. I forget the exact amount. I was not paying for visas before as a EU citizen or, if there was a fee, it was minimal. But, my process continues as my 10 year old daughter who still has a British passport, needs a visa. She was born in Germany to a Spanish Mother so I am sure there is a way around it. Travel has suddenly become more difficult compared to before. Anyhow, the costs in the UK seems excessive. But like you, the process was fun for me.

the cost of uk citizenship depends on the route and process you follow so it can be as expensive as £50000, including the delays and lawyers and re-applications if denied for stupid reasons just based on your race.

If you were wise and based on the circumstances, you would've applied for an Irish passport which has full EU membership benefits and the same rights in Britain as if you were a British citizen, thanks to the CTA agreement (even post brexit). Irish Passport has the best of both worlds.

Bunch of South Africans were on a road trip in Africa and they got kidnapped. The guy with dual citenship, a UK passport and a South African passport was held while the others were free to go. This guy was never seen again. That gives you an idea of the value of a British passport.

Wow, I am a British Citizen by birthright and both parents as British Citizens. It doesn't surprise me that now the UK Home Office policies English Tests but the overall cost is absolute insanity! I have lived otherwise in the USA and China and have wanted to stay on the right side of the law, keeping that visa valid is always the right thing to do. Hope you become a British Citizen soon!

£20,000 is an under estimate if you pay for immigration lawyers for all your processes and you pay for same day service in all your processes (Piority Services) plus all appointments payment.

It has been a difficult year for my family of four. At least we got the ILR and I am preparing to get naturalisation next months. I am sure it will be all worth it

I had to wait 10yrs before I could get citizenship. So double your costs lol plus the costs of passport renewal and other visas needed when you travel in holiday with the family and if you have kids as well, you can basically double that cost per child. Even if it's spread over time that crazy expensive

Been in country 14 years, when I applied for naturalization home office refused as I had old type of resident card. Pre 2014. Lost Total 3.5k. Being EU citizen, gave up for now. But now see people been shafted in worse way

I don’t think you have to pay for IHS when you apply for ILR

Absolutely disgusting, if you marry a British person and can prove it's not a marriage of convenience, it should be free and simple. Omg..many British people no little of the history.

Actually, unless they have suddenly developed a feeling of SHAME; there will be a compulsory fee for the Citizenship award ceremony. When my Wife did it around 5 years ago, it was £89 - no pay, no ceremony - NO CITIZENSHIP!!! We just scraped in under the rope before the current changes took place, her citizenship application appointment was less than 24 hours before the (unannounced) change to the rules, so she only had to wait 2 years to apply for citizenship. I estimated the total cost at around £10,000, including £1,000 to an immigration service, as she had a tourist visa refusal against her, and the cost of the language courses in China and the UK, for the A1 and B2 awards. We had a lot of issues just getting the initial visa for her to come to the UK, the UK consulate in Guangzhou messed us around for more than 3 MONTHS; insisting we come in multiple times, for interviews where they would ask a single question, then sending us away again; 16 hours travel time each way, as we were living in a different province. Ten days before my extended visa ran out, they called again, and said she needed to attend the Embassy the following day (this was late afternoon); we scrambled to get there for the 9AM appointment, where they kept us waiting for two hours, then gave her a letter saying her visa interview was in 2 days time. The actual interview was ..... interesting. They didnt go over ANY of the usual questions, just gave her chapter and verse about my previous Chinese girlfriend (who she already knew about), in an attempt to break us up. When that failed, they handed over her passport with the visa inside, and shoo'ed us out of the building. Leaving four days to book flights, pack her stuff and say our goodbyes.

I'm Polish-British Got my British citizenship in April. All in all costs roughly £2500 Should it interest anyone 🤔

for Tier 2 visa 5 years before ILR application then another 1 year for Bri'ish citizenship. Since I'm working in healthcare sector, we didn't pay for our IHS and other fees, all paid by the employer. Our IELTS is also valid or waived

U didn’t add 90 pound for applying passport 😂

Welldone & great video. Just to also add a little knowledge - the English test is not a requirement if you already possess a degree from a Uk accredited institution. As there are many routes, applicants should find out the most applicable routes that fits their situations & that would have a direct impact on the costs. Spousal route as you’ve mentioned is Just one of many. Great stuff & welldone.

That's the old passport on thumbnail. The new one is a dark blue colour.

I'm EU national so I had the indefinite leave to remain for free. So far I had to pay about £250 for the language and life in UK tests. The naturalisation application is £1330 like you stated. I then had to pay further £132 for an appointment to check my documents. I'm not so optimistic about this being the end of my costs though.

Why does it cost so much money, I am a UK citizen who lives in Germany. My residency permit cost me nothing. When I applied for citizenship I only had to pay for the tests in, total approx three hundred pounds. My ID card cost thirty pounds, and my passport seventy five pounds.

Im British and I can not afford to live there . The tax is awful and the hidden taxes even worse. Britain used to be a good country but it has been ruined over the last 70 years Do not move there.

That is really cheap considering if you got seriously ill, and by law they would have to help you, the cost to the British taxpayer would have been over a million.

Nice😀but i think u did a mistake of including IHS fee for Indefinite Leave to remain.there is no IHS fee for indefinite Leave to Remain.Congratulations😀

By the time you get your citizenship may be totally exhausted insome case mentally retired 😴 😆

My friends who went through the program had to get into the UK as students, then get various work visas, all the IHS fees and biometrics each time, then the ILR, then citizenship, which being single and having to change jobs multiple times over 10 years, was about 10,000, so about 1,000/year when you think about it. I’m working towards a tier one to try to avoid having to to get a new work visa every time 😅

Visa costs 2022. Spouse Visa for example £1'500 approx Skilled worker £625 IHS for Spouse £1'300 approx. These fees are from outside UK and are for initial visa. FLR or further leave to remain if already in Country means Visa fee can be reduced to £1'048. Skilled workers in NHS or Care workers for example can claim a refund of the IHS every 6 months by showing payslips (can be done online) and effectively the are refunded the WHOLE of the IHS fee over the course of their visa.

Why did you have to pay for IHS if you applied for ILR? Per some readings i made, you will only be required to pay the IHS if you are only granted limited leave?

Should have just come over on an inflatable boat from France. You would have got everything for free and stay as long as you like! That's how messed up this country is. Even get an interpreter at the job center when you arrive

Does anyone know why some countries don't allow immigrants to gain citizenship? thinking about moving from England but don't like the idea of working long time abroad with my wife and kids with no potential of gaining citizenship!

Health care is NOT free in the UK. We pay for it through general taxation and through National insurance contributions. Being British from birth I calculate that I have paid circa £150,000 for this alone, thus far in my life.

I have no idea why KZfaq recommended this to me. But it’s interesting to see how much people pay to become a citizen in the UK. I’ve got a ton of friends and family who had to go through the immigration process. They said it was expensive but I didn’t realise how expensive. Because they didn’t break down every single costs. But wow. my family is from Jamaica and I have often heard the term indefinite leave to remain

In addition to Naturalization you have to pay extra cost of British Passport.

Thanks for that, really insightful. I didnt get the option of the fast track when doing the renewal. Will look out for that when doing the indefinite leave and naturalization.

Thank you for this video I'm a mortgage broker and I specialise in getting mortgages for people who are living and working here on a visa. I never knew the actual cost of becoming a British citizen and some of the stages in the process so this will be useful to know good luck with the channel and check mine out if you're interested in mortgages in the UK.

They make 3000% profit from visa applications. It's genuinely disgusting. I can't believe what i'm going throught to keep my wife - MY WIFE!!! In the UK. After 10 years together. We plan on retiring abroading after what UK has put us through. Making that money and leaving by 50!!!

There is no IHS fee in Indefinite leave to remain.

I don't know how it works in the UK but here in the US if a woman of foreign nationality enters the United States pregnant and she gives birth that child automatically becomes a United States citizen.

Its an unfair system, you have to pay to jump through the loops of bureaucracy and have no rights in the meantime. To get married to a British person you have to apply for a fiancé visa in your country of origin, more than £1k, then at arrival, arrange the provisional leave to remain (more cash) then the permanent leave to remain (more dosh) and still, you cannot vote. So then the citizenship with the test and all as explained. £6k for the privilege. Am very 😡😡😡 because if you jump in a dinghy you get everything for free on the spot. Plus Kranky in Scotland lets everyone vote. 😡😡😡😡😡

I am a South African. I can obtain british citizenship by decent. My mother was born under the british flag.

I know a lot of people who have been staying in the UK for much longer than yourself but they don’t have a british accent 😄

Please note that the cost for the Visa, Health surcharge and English test are increasing year on year. If you want to ask a question about your application, it will cost 2.75 gbp per question and they'll probably tell you to wait as your application is in progress.

Always waiting for your new video. You're the best !

I paid £1.700 did cost mine i I past right 1st time my exams. ,and for documents as well. Now I British

I paid 10000... as a student who works part time. Lived alone and being screwed over by lots of stuff like student finance 🙂 🙃

IHS is now £624 each year. Also certain countries make you pay in a different currency and swindle you on the exchange rate.

The NHS fee for 2.5 years is £1560 your calculations was wrong Also when you applied for ilr you paid ihs fee Which is you will get refund

Cost me around GBP6500.00 for my Filipina wife of 30 years. Whole process took 4 months and many emails and phone calls. In the end, UK Visa office in Sheffield did an outstanding job and now my wife is in the UK with our kids. There are many horror stories out there of couples who have struggled, so not every case is the same. I was just super meticulous when putting all the information together during the application stage. VFS Global in Hong Kong were also incredibly helpful.

When I applied for my citizenship, I needed to provide knowledge of English via the English speaking and listening test (B1 English test). Apparently my pass in GCSE English was not applicable and therefore had to cough up something like £130. All in all, this test lasted 10minutes and was nothing more than a basic conversation.

Regarding the naturalisation process - add about 130 pounds for biometrics (to have an appointment at a more convenient time and not queuing for it for months). Also, after Home office approval you need to attend a citizenship ceremony - I had to pay for a private £220 because the wait for a £80 group one was another 3 months. On top of the nine months it took HO to make a decision, I really didn't want to wait even more without any valid travel documents .... Then the passport itself, £80 pounds.

I can’t keeep watching stop with hands

It doesn’t cost more than £2000 if you do it yourself!

It’s normal. EU citizens are incredibly lucky they got off very lightly even in spite of Brexit. This is a story of ALL non-EU citizens who have genuinely struggled to the core just to be able to breathe in U.K.

Fuck the long story: Mine cost: student visa £10k, extension £6K, another extension £6K and citizenship £3k, each time I paid solicitor £2.5k for each application. Passport £1K Total: £32.5K I have been working all these 7 years an and paid shitloads of taxes.

I'm British and don't understand why people are so eager to gain citizenship here. I love my country but believe it has gone down hill badly over the past 15-20 years. Stress has increase greatly due to demands at work, waiting time for the NHS is now out of the roof ectara, housing is hard to get - from what people have told me and all these checks you have to go through when apply for a new job, we never had to do that 18 - 20 years ago.

Why does the Uk make it so difficult I know this man who is British but married a woman from Zambia he’s been struggling for months he ended up apply for Germany and he says it was so simple and straight forward

An applicant applying for ILR is not required to pay the immigration health surcharge, (IHS).

The real cost of getting a british citizenship is about 1800gbp all in including English language test, life in the uk test, application fee, passport fee. Any prior visa requirements shouldn't be included in this price as it could vary widely depending on every case.

Very helpful information. My much needed details. Thanks for sharing. Now subscribed as well.

You can get it for free if you are a illegal immigrant such as overstaying.I bet you did not know this.

Finally somebody said this 😍am from Jamaica and been wondering about this process.

I'm am here on the same visa, however we also have 2 child dependants, so these costs are almost multiplied by 3 (the children will get passports after 3 years and won't have to do indefinite leave to remain). The amount of money is eye watering, but we would do it again in a heart beat.

I am long time married to a Thai & because my work takes me overseas I could never sponsor my wife as she could only stay in the UK on a settlement visa if I was there with her. So the last 26 years I been Thailand based. Thailand only give out 100 Citizenships a year so it’s next to impossible to get one. As a foreigner I can’t own land here. I can use the Government Universal health system but I have to pay. I can’t work unless I get a work permit & there are all types of regulations for that & they are extremely hard to get. I can’t own more than 49% of a Thai company. We have to show we have 400,000 (around £10,000) Thai Baht in a Thai bank to get & extend is we are on a marriage visa & double that if we are on a retirement visa. We have to extend these visas every year & we have to report to immigration every 90 days & if we are late the minimum is a fine & we could be deported. If we are on a marriage visa & divorce we lose the marriage visa. I do which the UK was more strict on immigration like Thailand. I always paid my UK National Insurance contributions & have over 35 years of paying in credits & so will be entitled to a full state pension next year but as the UK only pays it fully indexed to those in EEA Countries & some other Countries such as Turkey & the Philippines mine will be paid frozen & I will never receive any yearly increases. Over 500,000 UK Citizens who worked & paid in their NI contributions get their state pensions frozen & 95% of them live in British Commonwealth Countries. So if you are Thai Poppy & work in the UK & pay in your NI contributions to qualify for a state pension & you then decide to retire back to Thailand yours & your husband’s if he comes with you state pension will be frozen & you will never receive any yearly increase. However if you had been a Filipino who did the exact same & you retired back to the Philippines with your husband then both yours & your husband’s State pension would be fully indexed & you would both receive all yearly increases the same as if you stayed in the UK.

Liked this video mainly because of how positive you sound even after the massive fees involved through those 5 years:p Take care

It is insane! My niece has a british passport and lived in South Africa, she moved to the UK a year ago and had to leave her underage children with my sister and now a year later she has to pay around 8000 UK pounds to get her kids there! Absolutely ridiculous! When refugees can enter for free and get housing. She is practically also a refugee due to the violence she was exposed to in South Africa as she had to stay in low costing properties and could not find a job that pays her more than 300 pounds. I find it absolutely appalling

This figure does not surprise me as my Filipina wife now has British citizenship and paid all those fees . Personally as a British born citizen I think it’s a total rip off . You have worked and paid taxes here just as my wife did, those taxes should be taken into account and your fees dropped or reimbursed

It’s interesting and I am glad you brought out this Video !

150 pounds I paid in 2002 for my British Citizenship.

My friend just passed the test for 50£ and paid 1300 for a passport and he's now a Brit. Never heard about the B1 test lol

£150 to take a level B1 English exam, I would have thought it would be the B2 which is a more intermediate level. Oh and the past of cost is cost, not costed. An interesting video.

And the current tax take from citizens to HM Government is the highest in 50 years, which should fund these Public Services, however just get used to paying for everything twice if you live in the UK. As for the discrimination of British Citizens by its own Government for daring to marry someone who may not be a British Citizen, well the facts speak for themselves, this is the self serving money grabbing Public Service you can now expect in the UK.

All up, from visa to citizenship, it cost me about £6000

Thank u for all information, it’s very necessary and useful

For indefinite leave to remain you don't pay IHS there is no requirements of IHS for indefinite VISA

that is if you did it all your self not solicitores which is every time £600 that means another £2400 for solicitores fee and i had to pay £170 each time for finger print if i needed it quick which i did !!!! also you forgot to mention if any mistake or if home office not happy with paper work it will take you to 10years route not 5years ,that means you have to pay more by atleast another 6k

When i 1st come to UK back on 2007 i pay for my appointment to UK embassy in Philippines £500 to have spouse visa that is for 2yrs then when I come to UK my visa is good for 2yrs then end of 2yrs I applied for indefinite visa which is i need to take exam for UK history and it cost me £30 back on 2009 then I pay for the visa for indefinite to leave in the UK which is £750 back then then when my daughter come to UK I applied for British citizenship for me and my daughter but I have to English exam which is cost me £150 then after I passed my English exam and I applied for British citizen and British passport the British citizen only cost me between £950 to £1000 and for my daughter is about between £800 to £900 that is back on 2016 that's why when i see ur video I was so surprised

Took me only 11 Years … And I don’t even have that kind off money:((

Was very helpful. Thank u poppy. Much respect ❤️

I wish you every happiness. All the best to you and yours.Rab

Well i am europian person . We must stay in uk at list 3-5 years , But we all are allowed to go in holidays for a week or 3-4 days But not to be out of uk 250 days.

Spanish passport cost only € 25.50 and the ID card is €10.50, very cheap.

I paid £1.530 is because is the first 2 exams £200 and than £1.330

Thank you 🙏 so much for the excellent footage. I have had British passport so did all my kids. My wife has a 10 years visa, she needs to leave after 6 months, basically out for a day trip and back with another 6 months. She doesn’t possess right to remain. Because We are not living in U.K. only two of the kids do it’s much more difficult for my wife “the mother” of the kids to get the proper visa unless We shift to U.K. It’s not as easy and auto the wife or kids get British citizens. Kids born mid 2006 and before are eligible for British passports. U.K. eventually will re join EU sooner or later if the EU still intact. Getting Irish passport I totally agree has more pluses. The U.K. home office are more interested in self financing before considering applying unless you get visa for working. My kids need to be living in U.K. when they have kids otherwise it’s much more complicated. Spending £11,000 to get the right to remain indefinitely is worth the time and money spent. Getting British citizenship was much easier in the 80s and 90s. It will get much more difficult with time specially during current global financial difficulties. However, for those seeking to go to U.K. they need to their HW well in advance. Getting an Irish passport is fantastic as one of the comments made earlier with the Irish passport you have the luxury of both living in U.K. or any EU countries. Thank you and keep up the good work.

Point of correction you don't pay IHS when applying for ILR

Hey..loved your video... I have gone through same process but still need to get british passport..it would be great if you upload next video about what doc required to apply for british natulisation process..😊