British Citizenship Cost 2026: GBP 1,630 Naturalisation Fee Plus Ceremony, Tests and the ILR Upstream

The headline 2026 figure: GBP 1,630 plus GBP 80 ceremony

The Home Office naturalisation fee for an adult applicant in 2026 is GBP 1,630, set under the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations and published on the GOV.UK becoming-a-British-citizen pages. A separate citizenship ceremony fee of GBP 80 applies for every successful applicant aged 18 and over and is paid to the local authority hosting the ceremony, not directly to the Home Office. The combined headline at submission and ceremony is GBP 1,710.

Both figures held from the April 2024 fee uplift through the 2026 schedule. The naturalisation fee was last raised in April 2024 from GBP 1,500 to GBP 1,630, a 9 percent uplift, alongside parallel rises across other Home Office nationality fees. The next consultation on the fee schedule is expected through 2026 under the Statement of Changes process for the Fees Regulations.

Full itemised costs and the typical out-of-pocket

The full out-of-pocket cost for an adult British citizenship application in 2026 typically runs as follows.

• Form AN naturalisation fee: GBP 1,630.
• Citizenship ceremony fee: GBP 80.
• Life in the UK test: GBP 50 (if not already passed at ILR stage).
• SELT B1 English test (Trinity or IELTS Life Skills): roughly GBP 150 in 2026 (varies by test centre and provider).
• Nationality Checking Service (NCS) at the local council: optional, typically GBP 40 to GBP 80 where offered.
• Biometrics: included in the Form AN fee in 2026 (no separate biometric charge).
• Passport-size photos for the ceremony: GBP 5 to GBP 8.

A typical applicant who completed Life in the UK and B1 English at the ILR stage (where these are the same prerequisites) pays only the GBP 1,710 headline. An applicant who must take both tests for citizenship pays roughly GBP 1,910. An applicant adding optional NCS support pays GBP 1,950 to GBP 1,990 before any private legal advice.

The upstream ILR fee and the combined citizenship journey

Most adult naturalisation applicants in 2026 already hold indefinite leave to remain (ILR), and the ILR application costs sit upstream of the citizenship fees. The 2026 ILR fee for Set(M) (spouse-based), Set(O) (other categories including Skilled Worker) and similar forms is GBP 3,029. ILR also requires a separate IHS-free biometric appointment in most cases, included in the fee.

The combined cost of moving from limited leave to remain, through ILR, to British citizenship for one adult is therefore: ILR GBP 3,029, plus naturalisation GBP 1,630, plus ceremony GBP 80, plus tests if not yet taken (GBP 50 Life in the UK and GBP 150 B1 English where required), reaching roughly GBP 4,860 to GBP 5,000 in fees alone. This figure excludes any earlier visa fees, IHS surcharges paid on the underlying work or family route, and any private legal advice.

What this means in practice: an applicant who arrived on a Skilled Worker visa in 2021, extended in 2024, qualified for ILR in 2026 paying GBP 3,029, and applies for naturalisation 12 months later in 2027 (subject to the BNA 1981 section 6 residence and absence rules) will pay roughly GBP 1,710 at the citizenship stage on top of the ILR fee already paid, plus any tests not yet passed.

Form MN1 child registration and family bundles

Child registration as a British citizen, lodged on Form MN1 under section 1 or section 3 of the British Nationality Act 1981, costs GBP 1,214 in 2026. The fee covers a single child. Where two or more children are registered together, each child carries the full fee. Children registered before their 18th birthday are not required to attend a citizenship ceremony; children who reach 18 before the registration is decided pay the GBP 80 ceremony fee in addition.

A family bundle (one parent naturalising and two children registering) therefore reaches roughly GBP 1,630 + GBP 80 + GBP 1,214 + GBP 1,214 = GBP 4,138 in Home Office and ceremony fees, before any required tests. The Home Office does not publish a family discount on these fees as of the 2026 schedule.

Refunds, eligibility and the BNA section 6 test

Refunds are limited. The Home Office fee is partially refundable where an application is withdrawn before the caseworker begins consideration; once consideration begins, only the biometric and ceremony components are refundable in narrow circumstances. The ceremony fee is refundable where the local authority cancels the ceremony, but not where the applicant fails to attend.

Eligibility for naturalisation runs under section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981. The qualifying period is 5 years of residence in the UK, with no more than 450 days outside the UK in those 5 years and no more than 90 days outside in the final 12 months. The applicant must hold ILR (or equivalent settled status) at the date of application, and in most cases must have held it for at least 12 months. Good character, Life in the UK and B1 English are the additional statutory tests.

The 2026 fee position and what may change

The 2026 fee schedule held the naturalisation fee at GBP 1,630 unchanged from April 2024. The Home Office consults on the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations roughly every 18 to 24 months. A consultation through 2026 is anticipated but no draft regulations had been laid before Parliament by May 2026.

Two parallel debates affect the citizenship cost picture. The May 2025 immigration white paper raised the prospect of lengthening the work-route qualifying period for settlement from 5 to 10 years, which would push the citizenship clock back for many applicants without changing the citizenship fee itself. Separately, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and other civil society groups have campaigned through 2025 against the child registration fee, with judicial review challenges to the level of the MN1 fee continuing. None of those challenges has, by May 2026, produced a court order reducing the fee.

Payment methods, fee waivers and what is not waivable

The Home Office naturalisation fee is paid online at submission of Form AN, by debit or credit card through the GOV.UK Pay platform. The fee must clear before the application enters the casework queue. The local authority ceremony fee is paid separately, either online to the council hosting the ceremony or by bank transfer, depending on the authority's preferred channel.

Fee waivers on naturalisation are extremely limited. The Home Office published its 2024 affordability framework extending fee-waiver eligibility on certain family-route human-rights applications, but the framework does not extend to Form AN naturalisation: the citizenship fee is treated as discretionary in the sense that the applicant chooses when to apply, and is not waived on affordability grounds. The Life in the UK test fee and the SELT B1 test fees are also non-waivable in 2026. Children registered under specific sections of the British Nationality Act (notably under section 1(4) for the children of British citizens) can apply for a fee waiver where the GBP 1,214 fee would put the family in financial hardship, following the 2021 Supreme Court decision in PRCBC.

How we verified this

The naturalisation and registration fees were checked in May 2026 against the GOV.UK becoming-a-British-citizen pages at gov.uk/becoming-a-british-citizen, gov.uk/apply-citizenship-indefinite-leave-to-remain (Form AN) and the published Home Office fee schedule for nationality applications. The British Nationality Act 1981 framework was verified at legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61/contents, particularly section 6 (naturalisation) and section 1 (registration of children). ILR fees were checked against the GOV.UK Set(M) and Set(O) pages. Life in the UK and SELT B1 fees were drawn from the GOV.UK test pages. Only primary Home Office, GOV.UK and legislation sources were used.

Frequently asked questions

How much does British citizenship cost in 2026?

Adult naturalisation in 2026 costs GBP 1,630 for the Home Office Form AN fee plus GBP 80 for the citizenship ceremony. The full out-of-pocket reaches roughly GBP 1,830 once the GBP 50 Life in the UK test and a B1 English test (around GBP 150) are added, where these have not already been taken at the ILR stage.

What does the GBP 1,630 naturalisation fee include?

The fee covers the Home Office processing of Form AN, the biometric enrolment included in the application, and the decision letter. It does not include the GBP 80 ceremony fee, the GBP 50 Life in the UK test, the SELT B1 English test, the optional Nationality Checking Service, or any private legal advice. Refunds are limited once consideration begins.

How much does it cost to register a child as a British citizen in 2026?

Registration on Form MN1 under section 1 or section 3 of the British Nationality Act 1981 costs GBP 1,214 per child in 2026. A child reaching 18 before the registration is decided also pays the GBP 80 ceremony fee. Two siblings registered together pay the full fee each; no family discount applies.

How much does the whole journey from ILR to British citizenship cost?

For one adult, the combined fee journey in 2026 is roughly GBP 3,029 ILR plus GBP 1,630 naturalisation plus GBP 80 ceremony, totalling around GBP 4,740. Adding the Life in the UK and B1 English tests where not already taken brings the total nearer GBP 4,940. Earlier visa fees and IHS payments sit outside this figure.

Will British citizenship fees rise in 2026?

The 2026 schedule held the naturalisation fee at GBP 1,630 from the April 2024 uplift. A Home Office consultation on the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations is expected through 2026 but no draft regulations had been laid before Parliament by May 2026. Any change requires a Statement of Changes and parliamentary approval.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Becoming a British citizen
• GOV.UK: Apply for citizenship with ILR (Form AN)
• GOV.UK: Life in the UK test
• legislation.gov.uk: British Nationality Act 1981