The Final Insult

I met an American lady this morning; a very kind, intelligent American lady. She's a single mother who, concerned about her English-born daughter's future, applied for British citizenship.

She had got a near-perfect score for her "Britishness" test, failing only the answer to the question "Where would you go to apply for a National Insurance number?". She was overjoyed today to find that her application had been approved.

However, she explained to me that this aspiration for a UK passport comes at a price. For the test alone, she had to buy a revision book at £20 and pay £35 to take the exam.

The processing fee came to £650, to which she finally has to add £60 odd for her UK passport.

The irony of all this? The lady in question has worked and paid tax in Britain for over twenty five years.

The final insult was that they never even bothered to take up her references...