The British government announced on Wednesday that it is tightening immigration rules, making it nearly impossible for undocumented migrants who arrive on small boats to gain citizenship.
According to the new guidelines, migrants arriving by sea or concealed in vehicles will generally be denied citizenship.
“This guidance further strengthens measures to make it clear that anyone who enters the UK illegally, including small boat arrivals, faces having a British citizenship application refused,” a Home Office spokesperson said.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government is under mounting pressure to curb migration after Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, known for its anti-immigration stance, secured around four million votes in the last general election—a record for a far-right party.
However, the policy has drawn criticism from some Labour lawmakers.
“If we give someone refugee status, it can’t be right to then refuse them a route to become a British citizen,” Labour MP Stella Creasy posted on X, describing the new rules as leaving refugees “forever second class.”
Free Movement, an immigration law blog, warned that the updated policy could “block a large number of refugees from naturalising as British citizens, effective immediately,” calling it “incredibly spiteful and damaging to integration.”
The announcement coincides with ongoing parliamentary debates over the government’s proposed Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.
The bill seeks to grant law enforcement “counter-terror style powers” to dismantle smuggling networks responsible for bringing irregular migrants across the Channel.
Both legal and undocumented immigration have reached record levels and became a pivotal issue during the July 2024 general election that ushered Starmer into office.
Upon assuming power, Starmer abandoned former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s controversial plan to deter undocumented migration by deporting arrivals to Rwanda.
Instead, he promised to dismantle the smuggling networks to reduce migration numbers.
Provisional data from the interior ministry shows that 36,816 people were detected crossing the Channel between England and France in 2024—a 25 percent increase from the 29,437 arrivals recorded in 2023.
