On Monday, May 14th, The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, called on the Government to act quickly and waive the unacceptably high £1000-plus fees for the many children and young people who have lived all or most of their lives in the UK, but currently do not officially have British citizenship. He added, “the recent Windrush scandal has shone a light on an immigration system that is simply unfit for purpose”.
He said that “the Government charges huge fees to these young people, so they can get secure status. They profit on their circumstances, despite the amazing contribution they make to our city and our country”.
After finishing study in schools, many of them find themselves unable to continue their education and fulfil their professional ambitions. Instead, these young peoplestruggle to navigate an extremely costly and hostile Government process. In several cases, they unable to rent a home, hold a bank account, drive, or freely access essential health services, encountering further barriers in their path to prove their right to be here. Most of them involved came to the UK with their parents, or were born in the UK to parents who migrated here and have secure status to remain in Britain.
A research is being commissioned by The Mayor to understand the scale of the problem for today’s young Londoners. The research will focus on the tightening of routes to regularisation and increases in fees over the past ten years due to which there may now be significantly more young people in the capital facing these issues.