What British citizenship costs, for one adult and for a family
An adult pays £1,839 to naturalise: £1,709 for the application and £130 for the ceremony. Each child registered costs £1,000. Price your household with the calculator below.
Citizenship fees for you and your children
Total to pay when you apply
£3,839
Naturalisation + citizenship ceremony · Home Office fees of 8 October 2026
| Person | Fee | Surcharge |
|---|---|---|
| Main applicant | £1,839 | £0 |
| Child 1 | £1,000 | £0 |
| Child 2 | £1,000 | £0 |
| Application fees | £3,839 |
| Health surcharge (not applicable) | £0 |
| Total | £3,839 |
Children register separately; the ceremony fee is added for a child who turns 18 during the application.
Calculated in your browser: nothing you type is sent anywhere. Not legal advice; not affiliated with the Home Office.
Published by Radif Partners · How we calculate · Home Office fees of 8 October 2026, rules checked 13 October 2026
Naturalisation as a British citizen costs £1,709 under the Home Office fee table of 8 October 2026, and every adult also pays £130 for the citizenship ceremony at the same time, so the amount to budget is £1,839 per adult. There is no health surcharge and no charge for biometrics. Children do not naturalise: they are registered, for £1,000 each, a fee that fell in April 2026 and can be waived for a child whose family cannot afford it. A child who turns 18 during the process also pays the £130 ceremony fee. The Life in the UK test (£50) is only an extra cost if you did not pass it for settlement. Seen from the start of settlement, an adult who settles and then naturalises pays £5,115 in Home Office fees, and a couple with two children settling and becoming British together pays £18,682.
The adult bill
The naturalisation fee and the ceremony fee are paid together with the application, £1,839 in all. The ceremony is not optional: the fee covers the administration of the citizenship oath and pledge, and the process is only complete after it. Nothing else on the Home Office side is compulsory. Is it worth paying at all, once you hold ILR? Settlement costs nothing to keep, but it lapses after 2 years in a row abroad; you would then need a Returning Resident visa to come back. Removing that risk is one of the reasons people pay to naturalise. Biometrics at the UKVCAS appointment are free, and if you passed the Life in the UK test for your ILR, that pass is reused.
The naturalisation line has moved with the fee tables:
| Fee table from | Naturalisation | Ceremony | Child registration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 January 2024 | £1,500 | £80 | £1,214 |
| 10 April 2024 | £1,500 | £130 | £1,214 |
| 9 April 2025 | £1,605 | £130 | £1,214 |
| 8 April 2026 | £1,709 | £130 | £1,000 |
Since January 2024 the adult application has risen from £1,500 to £1,709 and the ceremony from £80 to £130, while child registration went the other way, down from £1,214 to £1,000 in the table of 8 April 2026. The Home Office fees page follows the other lines.
Home Office fee history
Fee in the table of 8 October 2026
£1,709
14 % since 31 January 2024
| From 31 January 2024 | £1,500 |
| From 9 April 2025 | £1,605 (+7 %) |
| From 8 April 2026 | £1,709 (+6 %) |
Calculated in your browser: nothing you type is sent anywhere. Not legal advice; not affiliated with the Home Office.
Children: registration rather than naturalisation
A child born abroad, or born in the UK before you obtained indefinite leave to remain, becomes British by registration, applied for separately from your own application at £1,000 each. A parent with two such children pays £3,839 for the three applications. Two cases cost less:
- a child born in the UK after you got ILR may already be British, in which case there is nothing to register and you apply straight for a passport;
- a child under 18 whose family cannot afford the fee may qualify for a fee waiver.
And one costs more: a child who turns 18 while the application is under way pays the £130 ceremony fee, as an adult would.
Once registered or confirmed as British, the child needs a passport to travel as a citizen: GOV.UK points under-16s to a child passport and those over 16 to an adult one. Each child's application is separate from yours and from each other's, with its own fee and its own decision, and the registration guidance on GOV.UK sets the conditions a child has to meet.
From settlement to passport: the whole bill
Most families meet these fees after paying for settlement, and the two often fall within about a year of each other. Here is the Home Office side of the journey for two adults and two children, all settling on one form and then becoming British, with both adults sitting the Life in the UK test once:
| Step | Who pays | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Indefinite leave to remain | 4 people at £3,226 | £12,904 |
| Life in the UK test | 2 adults at £50 | £100 |
| Naturalisation and ceremony | 2 adults at £1,839 | £3,678 |
| Registration | 2 children at £1,000 | £2,000 |
| Total | £18,682 |
For a single adult the same path costs £5,115. The 12-month wait between the two steps is time for the fee table to change, so check the current amounts when you budget the second half. Passport fees come on top and are not part of this table. The ILR fee page covers the first step and the citizenship application page the dates.