A WOMAN born in Bradford has been told she is not entitled to a British passport unless she stumps up nearly £1,250.

Irene Kaali was born at St Luke's Hospital in December 1993 but is not recognised as a UK citizen because her parents were born in Africa.

People born after January 1, 1983 only have an automatic entitlement to British citizenship if, at the time of the birth, their father or mother was a British citizen or settled in the UK.

Ms Kaali now lives and works in Carlisle after leaving Bradford for the University of Cumbria aged 19.

The 24-year-old first applied for a passport aged 17 when she wanted to go on holiday, but was told under the British Nationality Act, she is not a UK citizen.

She has since gone on to meet Carlisle MP John Stevenson, immigration lawyers and charities to help fight her case, but has been told to pay £1,163 plus an £80 admin fee to get her hands on a passport.

She said: "The entirety of my family were born and spent some time in Africa before they came to Britain, so Nationality has never been a question for them - they are African.

"However, I was the first and only person in my family to be born in Britain and so I’m the first and only person in my family to have to experience this.

"The bottom line is that this is my home, my culture, the only language I’ve ever known and the only soil I’ve ever stepped foot on."

Ms Kaali has set up a crowdfunding page to raise the money for her passport.

She added: "I don’t know what it is like to visit family abroad, I never met my elderly grandparents before they passed, I don’t know what it’s like to book a spontaneous trip or feel the holiday sun."

A letter sent by HM Passport Office to Mr Stevenson explained Ms Kaali's passport ordeal.

It read: "As Ms Kaali was born on 21 December 1993, in order to have a claim to British citizenship one of her parents would need to have been settled British at the time of her birth.

"Home Office records show that neither of Ms Kaali's parents were British citizens or settled in the UK at the time of her birth. Ms Kaali therefore has no claim to British citizenship."