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UK Citizen for 20+ years: I can't believe they want me to pay international fees!?

Leonie1969

Hi there - I'm applying for a doctorate and I've lived in the UK continuously for over 20 years, and also been employed pretty much all that time (including in the English civil service). I was born in Australia but I've had a British Passport since 1996, and I've been married to an English-born man since 2016 (and in fact I was previously married to a Scotsman!). Not only this but my father was born in the UK and lived much of his life here - back in 1996 that meant I qualified for a British passport automatically. Yet the University of Reading is still saying I'm an international student and don't qualify to pay home fees. I'm really confused - can that be right? Have the rules changed? I didn't have to pay international fees for my Master's at the University of Glasgow in 2018-19.... can anyone advise, as the information on Gov.UK and other sites seems contradictory. My UK passport was reissued in 2016 and there doesn't seem to be any information on it to prove that I held a previous UK passport before that.

(edited 6 months ago)

Reply 1

Leonie1969

Sorry just realised this has automatically posted in the wrong area and it's not letting me delete it. Will repost elsewhere...

Reply 2

Napp

Without knowing what they said and your exact circumstances its impossible to say. Suffice it on what you haqve said and that youre a citizen whose resided in the UK for the last (however many years it is) it sounds like theyve ****ed up and you just need to give them the documents to prove it.

Reply 3

gjd800

My institution registered me as overseas for my PhD, too. It was a bit of hassle getting it sorted (mainly because they were passing me from pillar to post instead of actually addressing the issue), and was especially annoying given I'd done two degrees there already with home status.

You really need to get into the School Office and see someone with a copy of your documentation and passport in-hand. It should be a relatively quick fix once they can get you in to actually look at the documentation.