UK Government Proposes New Immigration Fees

05 Feb 2014

The government of the United Kingdom has issued proposals to revise the fees charged for nationality, visas and immigration applications and the premium services associated with them.

Upon approval from the Parliament, the new fee changes will be applied from 6^th April, 2014, and some of the overseas premium services fees will be applied from 31^st March, 2014.

According to the proposals, most of the fees are being increased by 4 percent, including the fee for short-term visit visa to UK. The United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) stated that to limit the wider general rises, it has proposed other targeted increases.

UKBA also mentioned that these increases will allow them to improve the customer service, and enable them to start offering optional premium services. Some of which are:

• A £100 fee for priority Visa service for 3-5 days;
• A service for priority settlement application costing £300;
• A service of super priority visa for a fee of £600, which will fasten the application process to the shortest possible period;
• Apart from the present centers, new user pay VACs (Visa Application Centers), where applicants can enroll biometrics and submit applications at more locations for an extra fee of £53;
• Appointments beyond the office hours for a fee of £50; and
• Offering the service of passport passback at additional locations, for a fee of £40 per applicant.

A number of fees changes and reductions are also mentioned in the proposals, including:

• Lowering the direct airside transit visa fee to £40;
• Reducing the sponsor action plans, sponsorship fees for Tier 2 large sponsor licenses, and freezing many other sponsorship fees;
• Introducing a fee of £428 for Tier 2 shortage occupations, this is proposed for  applicants in the UK and overseas;
• Suggesting a new 5 year Tier 2 ICT/general application; and
• Changing the discount to a flat rate of £55 for the citizens of countries who signed the 1961 European Social Charter.