Immigration and Nationality Services

Thursday 9th February 2012 Written Statements

[The Minister for Immigration (Damian Green)]

I am announcing proposals to change the fees for immigration and nationality applications made to the UK Border Agency. The Government review these fees on a regular basis and make appropriate changes as necessary. I am today laying regulations for fees that are set at levels above the estimated administrative costs of the service. We have continued with our strategic approach to charging; setting certain fees above cost on the basis of the value of the service.

Given the ongoing need to reduce public spending, we believe it is right that we continue to seek to reduce the burden on UK taxpayers of delivering the border and immigration system by asking migrants to make a greater contribution to the funding of the UK Border Agency. The UK Border Agency has given careful consideration to its fee levels, to ensure it can maintain good service levels to customers and secure the border for the general public.

Some fees are set above the administrative cost of providing the service to generate the revenue which is used to help fund the UK immigration system and which enables others to be set below cost recovery to support wider Government objectives. The revenue generated will contribute towards securing the UK’s border and controlling migration for the benefit of the UK. These fees must be set out in regulations before both Houses of Parliament and are subject to the affirmative legislative procedure. In addition, I will shortly lay another set of regulations in Parliament for the fees for immigration and nationality services that are set at or below the administrative cost of the service. Further details of all fees changes will be outlined in the explanatory memoranda accompanying both sets of regulations. Subject to parliamentary approval the Government hope to bring the new fees into force from 6 April 2012.

Details of all the proposed increases are set out in the table attached (new fees are shown in italics). The table includes indicative unit costs for each application for financial year 2012-13. The unit cost is the estimated average cost to the UK Border Agency of processing each application. Although these unit costs are not fixed over the course of the financial year, the unit costs are published so it is clear which fees we set over cost and by how much.

In developing these proposals, the UK Border Agency has sought to limit most increases to approximately 2%. In addition, the fees paid by dependants, for applications made within the UK, are being maintained at the current level of 50% of a main applicant’s fee. In future the UK Border Agency will look to charge the same fee in the UK for dependants and main applicants, as currently already happens for visa applications made overseas.

Full details on how to apply for all of these services will be provided on the UK Border Agency’s website, www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk.