Deprivation of citizenship

Last updated on: 22 February 2024

The Home Office has the power to take someone’s British citizenship away. This can be exercised when it would be “conducive to the public good”. This has usually occurred when an individual has committed, or believed to have committed a terrorist offence, usually abroad, which in effect means that the individual is prevented from re-entering the UK.

If someone has become a British citizen through naturalisation in the UK, the Home Office has the power to deprive someone of their British nationality if it was obtained by fraud, false representation or concealment of an important and relevant fact.

The Home Office has the power to deprive an individual of their citizenship without informing them of the fact if they consider it to be in the interest of:

• (i) national security
• (ii) the investigation or prosecution of organised or serious crime
• (iii) preventing or reducing a risk to the safety of any person, or
• (iv) the relationship between the United Kingdom and another country.

If you find yourself in this situation you will need the assistance of a lawyer to help you challenge the decision to deprive you of your British nationality. Find a local immigration lawyer via the Law Society or Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association.