Recent changes to the ‘Good Character’ guidance

On 10 February 2025, the Home Office updated their Nationality: Good Character guidance which explains how one’s history, both criminal, immigration and otherwise will affect their naturalisation application. In a continued and sustained effort to deter individuals from entering the UK through illegal means, the following changes were introduced:

• Illegal entry - 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.

For individuals who applied before 10 February 2025, the position remains that an application will normally be refused where an individual entered the UK illegally in the past ten years. The update takes this to a new extreme, with a no-tolerance policy for illegal entry at any point in time. This is a concern for refugees currently in the UK, many of whom will not have had valid authorisation to enter the UK, but entered regardless in an attempt to seek asylum.

• Arriving without a required valid entry clearance or electronic travel authorisation, having made a dangerous journey

A person who applies for citizenship from 10 February 2025 who has previously arrived without a required valid entry clearance or electronic travel authorisation, having made a dangerous journey will normally be refused citizenship. A dangerous journey includes, but is not limited to, travelling by small boat or concealed in a vehicle or other conveyance. It does not include, for example, arrival as a passenger with a commercial airline.

Many refugees are right to be concerned, as despite being granted asylum or Humanitarian Protection, they are now prohibited from ever reaching the final destination: British citizenship. The guidance does state that applications should ‘normally’ be refused, which allows us to believe some discretion may be exercised, potentially where applicants have been granted refugee status or Humanitarian Protection, and had no choice but to make such dangerous journeys. The guidance proceeds to explain that an ‘exceptional grant’ of citizenship may be appropriate in certain circumstances, for example:

"A person who entered illegally 14 years ago would normally require refusal of citizenship as an illegal entrant but has been recognised as a victim of trafficking and subsequently granted refugee status. They haven’t acquired any other notable adverse character issues during their residency, indicative that on a balance of probabilities they are now of good character."

Further to the above, in March 2025, the Home Office were asked in a written question whether victims of trafficking and modern slavery who are given leave to remain will be affected by whether they entered the UK via an irregular route. In response to this, the Home Office provided some clarification on its new approach to citizenship applications from individuals who initially entered the UK illegally, particularly concerning victims of trafficking and modern slavery. While illegal entry or arrival without valid entry clearance or electronic valid authorisation will normally result in citizenship refusal, the Home Office confirms that immigration breaches will normally be disregarded where they were outside of an applicant's control. Citizenship applications will continue to be assessed on a ‘case-by-case’ basis, and mitigating factors such as where a person is a trafficking and modern slavery victim, may support an exceptional grant of citizenship.

Whilst this is helpful and reassuring to individuals who meet the above exception, the process still remains uncertain for thousands of refugees, many of whom will have already started their naturalisation journey. 

Since the changes were made in early 2025, there have been several legal challenges to the new guidance, many of which are still ongoing, which have resulted in a proposed amendment by the Home Office. This amendment intends to confirm that applicants who would have a defence to a criminal charge of illegal entry under section 31 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 may still meet the good character requirement for naturalisation.

Section 31 states as follows:

"It is a defence for a refugee charged with an offence [of illegal entry] to which this section applies to show that, having come to the United Kingdom directly from a country where his life or freedom was threatened (within the meaning of the Refugee Convention), he—

(a) presented himself to the authorities in the United Kingdom without delay;

(b) showed good cause for his illegal entry or presence; and

(c) made a claim for asylum as soon as was reasonably practicable after his arrival in the United Kingdom.

If, in coming from the country where his life or freedom was threatened, the refugee stopped in another country outside the United Kingdom, subsection (1) applies only if he shows that he could not reasonably be expected to have sought protection under the Refugee Convention in that other country."

This above defence has not yet been adopted into the Good Character guidance, but we expect that it will be shortly. The law in this area is therefore complex and these stark changes come at a time when a naturalisation application (excluding the citizenship ceremony fee) currently costs £1,605, expected to increase to £1,685. A high fee, which many people are unwilling to risk for a refusal.

If you are worried about a naturalisation application or have any questions, please contact Latitude Law today on 0300 131 6767, or fill out our online contact form. Our legal experts can guide you through the complexities of UK nationality application rules to improve your chances of success.