Huge increases in UK Visa Fees

The UK government has announced significant increases in visa fees as part of its plan to fund pay increases for public sector workers.

The Immigration Health Surcharge for workers staying for at least six months and for foreign national family members will be increased from £624 to £1035 per year. The rate for students, children and holders of Youth Mobility visas will be increased from £470 to £776 per year.

The fees for work and visit visas will increase by 15%, and those for student visas, certificates of sponsorship, entry clearance, and leave to remain applications by at least 20%.

Who will these changes affect?

These fee increases will affect many people: our friends; our neighbours; and people in our communities. They will affect people applying for visas to come to the UK to be reunited with their family. They will affect people already living in the UK, who are working and paying taxes. Some of the people affected will work for the NHS or in other public sector roles.

Those worst affected will be migrants who are already struggling with the cost of living crisis, and the punishing effects of the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) visa condition. We see already that high visa fees force people into debt, and these increases are likely to force more families into poverty and destitution

What is next?

It is likely to take a few months to bring in these fee increases. The changes will have to be made by secondary legislation (this means another law created by government ministers), and there will have to be an economic impact assessment.

If you are worried about these fee increases and are in a position to make an earlier application, we would suggest that you consider making an application sooner.

The fee increases will also mean that more people will be eligible for a full or partial fee waiver, which is available for some applications. For example, for a visa renewal on the 10 year route, you can apply for a fee waiver for the application fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge.

Other changes

Additionally, the Minister for Immigration has proposed further changes to the rules for setting immigration fees, including:

• Setting a power to charge a fee for an electronic travel authorization, or ETA, and set the maximum fee that can be charged for an application;
• increasing the maximum fee that can be set for visa visits, certain applications for entry clearance and leave-to-remain visas, certain nationality products and services, and priority services;
• introducing a power to charge a fee for a contact-point meeting with endorsing bodies on the innovator founder route, and setting the maximum fee that can be charged;
• introducing a power to charge a fee for the new “sponsor a worker” function;
• removing the fee for biometric enrolment (currently £19.20), for transfer of conditions (currently (£161) and for the replacement and amendment of biometric documents in certain circumstances.

The government has not announced any dates for implementing the new fees or for the proposed fee rules.