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Duncan Lewis’ public law team has submitted a pre-action letter to the Secretary of State for the Home Department challenging the recent policy change preventing many from becoming British citizens.

An updated version of the Home Office policy guidance, ‘Nationality: Good Character Requirement,’ was published (version 6.0) on 10 February 2025.

This policy provides guidance to caseworkers on how to consider whether a person applying for British citizenship meets the good character requirement for such an application to be granted. The following was added to the updated version:

‘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.’

The default position as it stands then is that all “illegal entrants” are now presumably of “bad” character regardless of the context of their entry. A number of NGOs and individuals contacted Duncan Lewis seeking to challenge the policy. They have raised deep concerns about how this change will affect their application for British citizenship – an application that currently costs £1,630.

In defending the change in the House of Lords, Lord Hanson, Minister of State for the Home Office, stated that, “we have strengthened measures to ensure that anyone who entered the UK illegally faces having British citizenship refused. We take our international obligations very seriously, and the good character policy is compliant with those obligations.”

The Refugee Convention provides that state parties must not penalise refugees who arrive without authorisation and should instead make every effort to expedite their naturalisation process. Accordingly, the U.K. has enacted legislation which provides a defence to refugees who have entered the country “illegally.”

A pre-action letter has therefore been issued which alleges that the new policy is in breach of the Refugee Convention, expresses a misstatement of the relevant domestic law and unlawfully discriminates against many who would otherwise be eligible for citizenship.

Duncan Lewis Solicitors

Duncan Lewis has the leading public law and immigration practice in the UK. The team frequently takes on and successfully brings challenges in some of the most high profile cases in the UK, including in relation to the Rwanda plan and Manston House. The company was crowned Law Firm of the Year 2024 at the LexisNexis awards, and noted for its commitment to providing justice for all.

Duncan Lewis is renowned for its exceptional legal services and commitment to justice. The company employs a team of highly skilled solicitors offering top-tier representation in 25 fields of law, and ranked as top tier by the Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500 legal guides, and as one of the top 250 law firms in the country by the Times.

The team working on this challenge at Duncan Lewis consists of Toufique Hossain, Ben Nelson, Kristen Allison and Thomas Munns. Counsel instructed are Alex Goodman KC and Charles Bishop of Landmark Chambers.