London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Nationality and Borders Bill: Can you lose your citizenship?

Nationality and Borders Bill: Can you lose your citizenship?

The government will have the right to strip a person of their British citizenship without telling them, under new powers being voted on by MPs.

The plan - which is part of the controversial Nationality and Borders Bill - is expected to pass into law soon.

What is citizenship?


Citizenship is a legal status. If someone is a UK citizen they have the legal right to live in the country, as well as access to services such as welfare, education and healthcare. They can also vote.

Citizenship is also an identity, and often forms part of a person's sense of self and belonging.

Some people who are not citizens have the right to live in the UK permanently with the same rights - they are said to have settled status, or fixed leave to remain.

What's being proposed?


Under the new law, the Home Office would be given the power to remove someone's UK citizenship without having to tell them.

The government says it would only use this in "exceptional" circumstances, such as if someone was in a war zone, or in hiding and impossible to contact.

But campaigners say that the move would chip away at citizenship protections, and is likely to disproportionately target ethnic minorities.

In a recent video posted to Instagram, actor Riz Ahmed called the measure "crazy, wrong and... racist".

What is the current law?


At the moment, the home secretary can strip someone of their citizenship for the following reasons:

*  It is "for the public good" and would not make them stateless

*  The person obtained citizenship through fraud

*  That person's actions could harm UK interests and they could claim citizenship elsewhere

The Home Office needs to notify the person, who in turn has the right to appeal - although this can be a lengthy process.

The Home Office also needs to believe that the person is eligible to apply for citizenship in another country. The UK has responsibilities under international law to avoid leaving people stateless.

How many people have been stripped of their citizenship?


The total figures aren't readily available.

However the Home Office says between 2010 and 2018, an average of 19 people per year were stripped of their citizenship where it was "conducive to the public good", and an average of 17 people a year because of fraud.

The immigration law website Free Movement says their research reveals that more than 460 people had their citizenship removed between 2006 and 2020 - 175 for national security reasons, and 289 for fraud.

Who are those people?


The most high-profile recent case of someone having their citizenship removed was Shamima Begum, one of three east London schoolgirls who travelled to Syria in 2015 to support the Islamic State group (IS).

Ms Begum was born in the UK to parents of Bangladeshi heritage and was 15 when she left.

In February 2020, a tribunal ruled that removing Ms Begum's citizenship was lawful because she was "a citizen of Bangladesh by descent", so removing her British nationality wouldn't make her stateless. Bangladesh said that was not the case and she would not be allowed into the country.

In February 2021, the Supreme Court decided that she wouldn't be allowed back into the UK to appeal against the decision.

Another person who had his citizenship deprived for national security reasons was Tauqir Sharif, an aid worker from Walthamstow. He moved to Syria in 2012 with his wife, and was stripped of his citizenship in 2017.

The Home Office said it believed Mr Sharif had links to a group aligned with al-Qaeda. He denied the claim, and called the system "unfair" and "racist".

What about other countries?


US-born citizens can't have their citizenship revoked because citizenship is a birth right guaranteed in the US constitution.

However, naturalised US citizens - that is, people who have immigrated to the US - can have their nationality stripped for a few reasons, including for being members of a proscribed group and for obtaining their US citizenship through fraud.

In Australia, a person can have their citizenship removed on national security grounds, if they are a dual citizen of another nation.

Citizenship can be removed for treason, disloyalty and other national security reasons in 14 EU states, including Greece, France and Romania.

In recent years, the UK has stripped more people of their citizenship than any other country apart from Bahrain, according to a report released by the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion.


Anthony Loyd of the Times describes how he found Shamima Begum in a Syrian refugee camp


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×