![\"Ahmed](\"http:\/\/wordpress.satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2020\/10\/ahmed.jpg\")
Omar, 31, had to pay almost \u00a33,000 to register his three children as British, despite two having been born in Manchester.<\/p>\n
Until he was able to do so, he was unable to travel outside the country.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cNot being able to travel made things really difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
As well as restrictions to travel those unable to afford the fees struggle to register for GPs, enrol in schools and are left feeling alienated, according to the Protection for the Registration of Children as British Citizens (PRCBC).<\/p>\n
Steven Valdez-Symonds, program director at Amnesty International UK who works closely with the PRCBC, said: \u201cWhy on earth should someone entitled to British citizenship have to be dependent on the permission of the Home Office to do these thoroughly basic and necessary things in their home country?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe response by the Home Office has been a disgrace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some even face the potential of being deported in the future.<\/p>\n
Paul Morris, a Manchester-based immigration lawyer, knows of a Somali man who was granted indefinite leave to remain as a child but did not register as British.<\/p>\n
He was later convicted for taking driving tests on others\u2019 behalf and deported and would not have been deported had he paid the fee as a child.<\/p>\n
Mukhtar Mohamed, 22, worried about the prospect of starting a family.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of money and it\u2019s unfortunate. It would be difficult to pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
The PRBC argue that the failure of the Home Office to consider the best interests of children is unlawful. They have also appealed a previous ruling that the Home Office is acting lawfully by charging above operational costs and making profit on citizenship registration for children.<\/p>\n
A verdict is not expected to be announced for some weeks. However, if a decision cannot be made the case will be referred to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Somali community in Manchester is disproportionately affected by a \u00a31,023 fee the Home Office charges to register some children born in the UK as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1380,"featured_media":4866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4972,1],"tags":[3986,3987,1331,117],"class_list":["post-4868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uncategorised","tag-citizenship","tag-home-office","tag-moss-side","tag-somali"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n