Deprivation of British citizenship and withdrawal of passports citizenship. “Fraud” means either of those. 4 In practice, this could mean lying in an application for refugee status or failing to disclose criminal convictions. 5 “Conducive to the public good” means deprivation is in the public interest because of the person’s “conduct and/or the threat they post to the UK”. Examples of such conduct include (but are not limited to) involvement in terrorism or serious organised crime. 6 In practice, citizenship deprivation for the public good is generally used in the context of national security or counter-terrorism. The aim is to prevent a person who poses a threat to the United Kingdom from returning to the country, which they would otherwise have a right to do as a British citizen. 7 There is one known case of public good citizenship deprivation because of serious organised crime (as opposed to terrorism). This involved several naturalised British citizens whom the Home Secretary wished to deport to Pakistan, the country of their original citizenship. 8 Who makes the decision? The Home Secretary normally decides each case of deprivation for the public good personally. 9 In their absence, a senior minister such as the Chancellor of the Exchequer can make the decision instead.10 In national security cases, recommendations that someone be deprived of citizenship usually come from the intelligence services, who send the case to the Home Office’s Special Cases Unit along with a detailed briefing. The Special Cases Unit “does not conduct its own investigations into the accuracy of the national security case presented to them”, according to a 2018 report. 11 Fraud cases are handled by a different team, the Status Review Unit. Decisions in these cases are made by civil servants rather than the Home Secretary. Many fraud referrals come from the Passport Office. 12 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 7 UK Visas and Immigration, Deprivation of British citizenship: caseworker guidance, version 3.0, 18 October 2024, p11 Laci v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] EWCA Civ 769, 20 May 2021; McGrath v Secretary of State for the Home Department, UI-2022-005549, 12 April 2023 UK Visas and Immigration, Deprivation of British citizenship: caseworker guidance, version 3.0, 18 October 2024, p8 HC Deb 20 February 2019 c1485 “Rochdale grooming trio to lose British citizenship”, BBC News, 8 August 2018; Aziz & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 1884, 8 August 2018 Home Office, Nationality and Borders Bill: Deprivation of citizenship factsheet, 2 March 2022 R (D4) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] EWHC 2179 (Admin), 30 July 2021, paragraph 5. The Chancellor, then Sajid Javid, may have been chosen as the most appropriate person on this occasion because he was a former Home Secretary familiar with the process. Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, An inspection of the review and removal of immigration, refugee and citizenship “status”, 30 January 2018, paragraphs 8.6-8.7 Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, An inspection of the use of deprivation of citizenship by the Status Review Unit, 29 February 2024, paragraphs 3.31 and 5.23 Commons Library Research Briefing, 18 December 2024