英國悄然上調退籍費 民衆斥責政府大發'脫歐'財
The Home Office has hiked fees sharply for UK nationals to renounce their British nationality, following a Brexit surge in people adopting the citizenship of other European countries.
隨着英國脫歐引發加入其他歐洲國家國籍的英國人數量激增，英國內政部已經大幅提高了公民放棄英國國籍的費用。Ministers were accused of "cashing in on Brexit" after it emerged fees were quietly raised to more than 1,000 pounds for a family of three.
在一個三口之家的“退籍費”悄然上調至1000英鎊以上之後，大臣們被指利用脫歐牟利。Many of the 1.3 million British people living abroad in other EU countries have sought foreign citizenship since the EU referendum.
自退歐公投以來，生活在其他歐盟國家的130萬英國人中的很多人都已申請了外國國籍。
But with many EU countries, such as the Netherlands and Austria, restricting or entirely banning dual citizenship, some Britons are forced to pay twice: once to apply for costly foreign citizenship and again to renounce their British citizenship.
但因爲許多像荷蘭和奧地利這樣的歐盟國家，限制或完全禁止雙重國籍，因此一些英國人被迫繳納兩次費用：一次是申請外國國籍的高額費用，另一次則是放棄自己的英國國籍的費用。
In April, the Home Office raised the renunciation fee per person by more than 50 pounds from 321 pounds to 372 pounds.
今年4月，內政部將人均“退籍費”提高了50多英鎊，從321英鎊上調至372英鎊。Though expensive enough for single people, couples and families living abroad can easily find themselves spending many thousands of pounds on a citizenship application once the UK's charges for leaving are taken into account.
對於生活在國外的單身人士、夫婦和家庭來說，這個數字已經夠貴的了。要是算上英國的離境費用，他們在申請公民身份方面的花費很容易就達到了數千英鎊。The department says the sharp increase reflects an increased cost of handling applications dash; at the same time as British people applying for foreign passports surged.
內政部稱，這項費用的上漲是由於同時期申請外國護照的英國人激增從而使的處理申請的成本也相應增加。Figures from EU statistics agency Eurostat show the number of British people seeking the citizenship of other countries had increased by 165 per cent in the year of the referendum compared with the previous year. Individual figures from other countries show a sustained increase in similar applications throughout 2017.
歐盟統計局的數據顯示，與前一年相比，英國申請其他國家公民身份的人數增加了165%。其他國家的數據也顯示，2017年全年這類身份申請的數量持續增加。
