Draft Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2026

(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)

Tuesday 24th February 2026 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mike Tapp)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2026.

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mrs Hobhouse. The draft order sets out the immigration and nationality functions for which a fee is to be charged, and the maximum amount—or maxima—that can be charged in relation to each of those functions. Within the order, we are proposing a number of changes that will facilitate Government policy. Fees charged by the Home Office for immigration and nationality applications are an essential part of the Department’s funding settlement. This order will increase fee maxima across a number of chargeable functions, including those for electronic travel authorisation, known as ETA; entry clearance as a visitor for visas valid for a period of more than 12 months; a visa on a route to settlement; settlement; naturalisation and registration as a British citizen or as one of the specified other categories of citizenship; and certain nationality-related services.

The actual fee levels that are charged to those seeking to enter or remain in the UK are not changing in this order; any changes to the fee levels will be made through separate legislation. We will increase the fee maximum that applies to an application for an ETA from £16 to £20 in order to facilitate a subsequent increase in the chargeable fee to £20. The fee maximum for entry clearance as a visitor for a period of more than 12 months will increase from £250 per annum to £253 per annum. It will facilitate a subsequent increase to the two-year visit visa fee from £475 to £506. We are increasing the fee maximum for visas on a route to settlement from £3,600 to £3,635. That will facilitate a subsequent increase to the fee for applications by other adult dependent relatives of a British citizen or a person with settled status who wishes to join their family member in the UK from £3,413 to £3,635.

We are also amending the fee maximum for settlement applications from £3,600 to £3,635 in order to align with the changes to the fee maximum for visas on a route to settlement, reflecting the connection between those two chargeable functions. The fee maxima for naturalisation as a British citizen or as a British overseas territories citizen and registration as a British citizen or for other nationality statuses will increase from £1,605 to £1,709, and from £1,500 to £1,540, respectively. Subject to parliamentary approval, that will allow us to increase the fees for naturalisation and registration as a British citizen by adult applicants to the new maxima levels.

[Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

The explanatory notes suggest that the increases are linked in part to the consumer prices index rate of 3.5%, plus a 6.5% tariff to compensate for other areas. But according to the figures in the statutory instrument, the range for some increases is as low as 1%; for others, it is 25%. Can the Minister set out why there is such variation in the percentage increase, and why there is a deviation from the explanatory notes, and the CPI 3.5% plus 6.5%, in the order?

[Mike Tapp]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I cannot set out the exact details right now, but I can say that this is to ensure that we are recouping the costs of individual routes and that each individual route will have different costs to it. I can come back to him with further detail and break that down after the debate.

We are increasing the fee maxima for nationality-related services by 6.5% to support a subsequent increase in relevant fees to the new maxima level. The changes will facilitate the generation of additional income for the migration and borders system, which will in turn support the broader funding of the system, reducing reliance on the general taxpayer while supporting delivery of the Government’s priorities. I therefore commend the order to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mike Tapp]

I will first answer hon. Members’ questions. On how the funding is used, I am sure the hon. Member for Rutland and Stamford would not expect me to lay out today how the Home Office will spend its budgets beyond what has already been announced. On whether there will be any future fee increases, of course that will be kept under review, but I have set out the extent of the increases in today’s order.

The hon. Member for Woking talked about dual nationals—he framed them as Brits stuck abroad. We are bringing in new measures around ETA enforcement, which begins tomorrow. We have been communicating that since 2024 on the Government website. In 2025, a significant sum of money was spent on such communications. For clarity, if someone is a dual national, they will need their British passport to travel on. That is the same as Australia, the United States and many other countries around the world. It modernises and makes our border more secure. On meeting to discuss this, absolutely—he will see an email in his inbox. I believe it is on Monday next week that any Member of Parliament can come and talk to me about this matter.

Question put and agreed to.