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New immigration and application fees

UK Visas and Immigration have recently announced details of new application and service fees.

What has changed?

New legislation, which is now in force, sets out the maximum amounts that can be charged for visa, immigration and nationality applications over the next four years.

Further to this on 26th February, further legislation was confirmed by the Home Office which will make changes to specific application fees. This legislation will come into effect on the 18th March (6th April for the Isle of Man) this year.

The main changes are:

  • Visas linked to economic growth – so those offered to workers and students – will be increased by 2%. This means that there has been a small increase in the cost of a Tier 2 (General) and Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) visa issued for 3 years of less from £564 to £575.
  • Visit visas will be increased by 2%, the increase has been applied to help maintain the UK’s position as one of the world’s top tourist destinations. A visit visa for 6 months or less has only increased by £2 to £87.
  • Settlement, residence and nationality fees will be increased by up to 25%. An increase has been applied as these routes deliver the most benefits to successful applicants. The cost of an application for settlement has increased by £239 to £1,195 and the cost of an application for settlement of a dependant relative has increased by a substantial £535.
  • An increase of up to 33% has been applied to optional premium services offered by the Home Office, including super premium service and priority visa services overseas.
  • Fees for all sponsorship categories will be held at the current rates.

Why have these been introduced?

The Home Office says it has applied these further changes to ensure a self-funding system can be achieved whilst continuing to provide a competitive level of service.

The Home Office also wants to maintain a fee structure that remains attractive to businesses, migrants and visitors.

In reality, this means that an increase in the number of applications received and processed between now and 18 March 2016 is likely. This will increase the processing times and so if you do need to put in an application to UKVI, please bear this in mind.

Full details of the new fees can be found by clicking here.

How can Ward Hadaway help?

For further details on visa and immigration requirements, please get in touch.