Challenge to ‘good character’ citizenship guidance

Wilson Solicitors Immigration and Public Law & Human Rights teams are acting in a challenge to the Home Office’s amended guidance on when a person will be considered to be of ‘good character’ for the purposes of an application for British citizenship.

Our challenge argues that the policy is unlawful including because it misdirects Home Office officials as to how they should decide naturalisation applications.

How has the policy changed?

On 10 February 2025, the Home Office amended its guidance on how it assesses whether someone is of ‘good character’ to be granted naturalisation as a British citizen.

A comparison of the previous guidance and the new guidance published on 10 February 2025 is available here.

The main change affects people who entered or arrived in the United Kingdom ‘illegally’. The guidance now says that for anyone applying for naturalisation from 10 February 2025, if they entered or arrived in the UK illegally, however long ago this happened, ‘normally’ their application
will be refused.

Under the previous good character policy (in place since June 2022), illegal entry and other immigration breaches relating to lawful residence that had occurred in the preceding 10 years could be disregarded by the Home Office when considering the naturalisation application, where the person had been granted indefinite leave to remain and no concerns regarding the person’s character had arisen since the grant of settlement.

What has the government said about the change of policy?

The letter here from Dame Angela Eagle DBE MP, Minister for Border Security & Asylum, to the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association explains the government’s position as follows:

On 10 February we strengthened good character policy for citizenship to make it clear that anyone who enters the UK illegally, or who arrives without a required valid entry clearance or electronic valid authorisation having made a dangerous journey, including small boat arrivals regardless of their date of entry, will normally be refused British citizenship. 

Each citizenship application will continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis and the Secretary of State may choose to apply discretion to grant citizenship on an exceptional basis where there are particularly exceptional, compelling or mitigating circumstances, and where necessary to comply with our international obligations.

The government has also made clear, in answers to questions in Parliament (see here and here), that it will normally be appropriate to disregard illegal entry where the way in which an individual arrived in the UK was outside their control, as will normally be the case for people who arrived when they were children or who were trafficked into the UK.

How can we help?

Since the change of policy was announced, we have received over one hundred enquiries from people concerned about how the change of policy might affect them. In many cases, people had completed the relevant tests (English language and Life in the UK) and were ready to submit their applications when the change of policy was announced.

Our Immigration team is able to provide expert advice on and assistance with making an application for naturalisation. If you did not have control over how you entered the UK – for example because you entered as a child or you were trafficked in to the UK – it may be worth putting in your application with detailed arguments as to why you should be granted on an exceptional basis. It may also be worth applying if an argument can be made that you should be considered of good character notwithstanding the fact that you entered illegally.

For people who are ready to apply but for whom the risk of refusal is too high to justify the time and expense of making an application, judicial review might be an option.

Another option is to await the outcome of our legal challenge, challenges brought by other law firms, or further clarification about how the government intends to apply the policy.

Which of these options is right for you will very much depend on consideration of your individual circumstances.

Contacting us

Our work for people considering applying for naturalisation is led by our Immigration partner Marcela Navarrete. Enquiries can be emailed to: immigration@wilsonllp.co.uk 

The work on our judicial review challenge is being led by our Public Law partner Jed Pennington and our Immigration Associate Mala Savjani, working with expert immigration and nationality barrister David Chirico KC. Enquiries about this can be emailed to: public@wilsonllp.co.uk