Abstract

Children are a vulnerable category of people particularly affected by nationality laws. This chapter will demonstrate that despite there being special provisions in law for children to acquire British citizenship through registration, they are still routinely excluded from doing so. A large number of children and young people living in the UK, who despite being entitled to British citizenship or having strong claims to being registered as British at the discretion of the Home Secretary do not have that citizenship. The barriers include high fees, lack of legal aid, and good character requirements.