Anger after Theresa May denies plight of 120,000 young migrants who must pay £10,000 to avoid 'hostile environment'

Theresa May has been accused of ignoring the plight of up to 120,000 young migrants who must pay £10,000 to avoid her “hostile environment”, after denying the problem existed.

Campaigners have expressed anger after the prime minister told MPs the young people were “not required” to take any action – despite the risk they will be viewed as “illegal” if they cannot secure their status.

She also denied a bill of £10,000, although that is the cost for the requirement to make repeated applications for leave to remain, plus pay an NHS “surcharge” – a process that also takes a full 10 years.

The controversy was raised in the House of Commons, where Ms May rejected warnings of a repeat of the Windrush scandal facing a group who grew up in the UK but “simply cannot afford the paperwork”.

The young people enjoyed full rights and benefits that “put them on an equal footing to their British citizen peers”, the prime minister insisted.

In fact, anyone unable to secure permanent leave to remain must pay higher university fees, is ineligible for student loans and is threatened by the “hostile environment” policy laid bare by the Windrush debacle, critics say.

“The prime minister is ducking the issue and ignoring the plight of these young people,” said Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Just for Kids Law campaign.

“By the age of 18 they have to regularise their status or their world falls apart. They are British apart from not having a piece of paper and they want to become mathematicians, or doctors, or civil servants – to contribute to this country.

“Instead, they find they are treated as international students and have to pay international fees and they cannot get a student loan.”

Ian Blackford, the Scottish National Party’s Westminster leader, who has demanded a meeting with the prime minister after clashing with her over the issue, echoed the criticism.

“This government is guilty of creating a generation of undocumented citizens, without the rights that many of us take for granted – yet the prime minister failed to grasp the issue,” he said.

“We are talking about young people who live here, who have to wait 10 years and pay up to £10,000 to achieve permanent right to remain.

“The prime minister must change her policies which target innocent young people, and I seek to meet with her to resolve this injustice.”

Ms May was put on the spot because of growing anger over the hoops to be jumped through to gain limited leave to remain (LLR) – a stepping stone to indefinite leave to remain.

Young people must apply for LLR no fewer than four times, paying £2,033 every 30 months to fill in a 60-page form. That fee has soared by 148 per cent since 2014.

It is only after four successful LLR applications that a young person is entitled to apply for indefinite leave to remain (£2,389), taking the total cost above £10,000. A year later, they can apply for full citizenship (£1,330).

Mr Solomon added: “We come across situations where one sibling has to go undocumented because their parents, who have paid their taxes, can’t muster the cash for two young people.”

Someone who is classed as undocumented as an adult is also not allowed to work and can be denied non-emergency health treatment – in an echo of the Windrush affair.

However, during prime minister’s questions, Ms May rejected the figure of £10,000 as one “I certainly do not recognise”.

Instead, she argued that young people with indefinite leave to remain had “access to benefits and entitlements which put them on an equal footing to their British citizen peers”.

“So, a grant of British citizenship is not therefore required,” MPs were told.

“Of course, specific exemptions from application fees are provided to several groups with limited means, such as stateless people, victims of modern slavery or domestic abuse, asylum applicants and children who are looked after by a local authority.”

As recently as 2014, before the introduction of the NHS surcharge, meant to ensure migrants meet their health costs, an LLR application cost £601.

The Home Office has been open about charging fees far in excess of the costs of immigration, insisting it is fair that they help fund the wider immigration system.