Immigration and Nationality Services (Charges) Debate

Full Debate: Read Full Debate
Department: Home Office
Thursday 9th September 2010

(14 years, 2 months ago)

Written Statements
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Damian Green Portrait The Minister for Immigration (Damian Green)
- Hansard - -

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 makes appropriate changes as necessary.

The Chancellor’s emergency Budget set out the state of the nation’s finances and demonstrated the very difficult choices that must be made to reduce the budget deficit. As part of that, the Government have looked again at the contribution made towards the costs of running an immigration system by the users of that system, balanced against those costs met by the UK taxpayer and we believe proposals to increase fees at this time are in the best interests of the UK. Securing the border brings with it an unavoidable core of cost, especially as we seek to improve customer service for visa applicants: something which we believe is important in the efficient running of the UK economy.

We set some fees above the administrative cost of providing the service. This allows us to generate revenue which is used to fund the UK immigration system and to set certain fees below cost recovery to support wider Government objectives. The revenue generated will continue to strengthen our capability in underpinning technology and process improvement. For transparency, I have included details of the estimated unit cost for each route, so that it is clear the degree to which individual routes are set above or below cost.

I will shortly lay two sets of regulations in Parliament to effect fee increases and the table sets out details of all the proposed increases. The table includes indicative unit costs for each application for 2010-11. The unit cost is the estimated average cost to UK Border Agency of processing each application. Although our unit costs are not fixed over the course of the financial year, we publish unit costs to enable Members to see which fees we set over cost and by how much. Further details of all fees changes will be outlined in the explanatory memoranda accompanying the regulations.

Regulations to set fees at or below the cost of processing are subject to the negative parliamentary procedure and I propose these fees will increase from 1 October 2010. Where we charge a fee that is set above the processing cost, the regulations are subject to the affirmative parliamentary process, and I aim for these fees to come into effect in November, subject to parliamentary timetabling.

I believe our proposals continue to strike the right balance between maintaining secure and effective border controls, and ensuring that our fees structure does not inhibit the UK’s ability to attract those migrants and visitors who most benefit the UK. In principle it is right that those who benefit most from the immigration system should bear a higher share of the contribution to the running of the system.

Full details on how to apply for all of these services will be provided on our website at: www.ukba.homeoffice. gov.uk.

Fees to be Implemented from 1 October 2010

Non PBS Visas

Current Fees

New Proposal

Products

Unit Cost

Main applicant

Main applicant

Visit visa - short

£140

£68

£70

Certificate of Entitlement

£245

£220

£245

Transit Visa

£94

£47

£47

Vignette Transfer Fee

£93

£75

£93

Call Out/Out of Hours Fee

134/hr

£130/Hr up to Max £939/day

£130/Hr up to Max £939/day



PBS Visas

Current Fees

New Proposal

Products

Unit Cost

Main applicant

Main applicant

Tier 1 (Transition)

£332

£256

£332

Tier 1 (Transition) CESC

£332

£235

£300

Tier 1 Post Study

£344

£315

£344

Tier 4

£242

£199

£220

Tier 5

£173

£128

£130

Tier 5 CESC

£173

£112

£120



Nationality Applications - Migrants In UK

Current Fees

New Proposal

Products

Unit Cost

Main applicant

Dependant

Main applicant

Dependant

Renunciation of Nationality

£208

£208

N/A

£208

N/A

Nationality Right of Abode

£150

£143

N/A

£150

N/A

Nationality Reissued Certificate

£178

£76

N/A

£80

N/A

Nationality Reconsiderations

£100

£100

N/A

£100

N/A

Status Letter (Nationality)

£107

£76

N/A

£80

N/A

Non-Acquisition Letter (Nationality)

£107

£76

N/A

£80

N/A



Non PBS Routes - Migrants In UK

Current Fees

New Proposal

Products

Unit Cost

Main applicant

Dependant

Main applicant

Dependant

Transfer of Conditions Postal

£381

£169

£16

£200

£50

Travel Documents Adult (CoT)

£246

£220

N/A

£220

N/A

Travel Documents Adult CTD

£246

£77.50

N/A

£77.50

N/A

Travel Documents Child (CoT)

£231

£138

N/A

£138

N/A

Travel Documents Child CTD

£255

£49

N/A

£49

N/A

Replacement BRP

£35

£30

N/A

£30

N/A

Call Out/Out of Hours Fee

134/hr

£130/Hr up to Max £939/day

N/A

£130/Hr up to Max £939/day

N/A

Work Permit Technical Changes

£116

£20

N/A

£20

N/A



PBS Routes – Migrants in UK

Current Fees

New Proposal

Products

Unit Cost

Main applicant

Dependant

Main applicant

Dependant

Tier 4 - Postal

£357

£357

£80

£357

£100

Tier 5 - Postal

£359

£128

£12

£130

£30

Tier 5 - Postal CESC

£380

£112

£11

£120

£30



PBS Sponsorship Products

Products

Unit Cost

Current Fees

New Proposal

Tier 2 Small Sponsor Licence

£880

£300

£300

Tier 4 Sponsor Licence

£950

£400

£400

Tier 5 Sponsor Licence

£880

£400

£400

Tiers 2 & 4 Small Sponsor

£950

£400

£400

Tiers 2 & 5 Small Sponsor

£880

£400

£400

Tiers 4 & 5 Sponsor Licence

£950

£400

£400

Tiers 2 & 4 & 5 Small Sponsor

£950

£400

£400

Tier 2 Medium /Large Sponsor Licence, where they already hold Tier 4 &/or 5 Licence

£950

£600

£600

Tier 4 &/or 5 Sponsor Licence, where they already hold Tier 2 Small Sponsor Licence

£950

£100

£100

Tier 4 Highly Trusted Sponsor Licence

£950

£400

£400

Sponsor Action Plan

£1,100

£600

£1,000

Tier 5 COS

£25

£10

£10

Tier 4 CAS

£25

£10

£10

CESC = Council of Europe Social Charter Nationals



Fees to be Implemented from November 2010

Non PBS Visas

Current Fees

New Proposal

Products

Unit Cost

Main applicant

Main applicant

Visit visa - long 2 year

£140

£230

£245

Visit visa - long 5 year

£141

£420

£450

Visit visa- long 10 year

£155

£610

£650

Settlement

£249

£644

£750

Settlement - Dependant Relative

£272

£1,680

£1,680

Other Visa

£115

£230

£245



PBS Visas

Current Fees

New Proposal

Products

Unit Cost

Main applicant

Main applicant

Tier 1 (Gen, Investor, Ent)

£332

£690

£750

Tier 1 (Gen & Ent) CESC

£332

£629

£700

Tier 2

£197

£270

£350

Tier 2 CESC

£196

£250

£300



Nationality Applications - Migrants In UK

Current Fees

New Proposal

Products

Unit Cost

Main applicant

Dependant

Main applicant

Dependant

Naturalisation 6 (1) Single *

£208

£735

N/A

£780

N/A

Naturalisation 6 (1) Joint *

£231

£930

N/A

£1010

N/A

Naturalisation 6 (2) *

£208

£735

N/A

£780

N/A

Nationality Registration Adult *

£208

£550

N/A

£580

N/A

Nationality Registration Single Minor

£208

£470

N/A

£500

N/A

Nationality Registration Multiple Minors

£255

£567

£97

£600

£150

*£80 per person for the Citizenship Ceremony is included in these fees.



Non PBS Routes - Migrants In UK

Current Fees

New Proposal

Products

Unit Cost

Main applicant

Dependant

Main applicant

Dependant

ILR Postal

£341

£840

£129

£900

£250

ILR PEO

£256

£1,095

£154

£1,250

£350

ILR Postal CESC

£341

£767

£121

£850

£250

ILR PEO CESC

£256

£992

£144

£1,100

£300

ILR Dependant Relative Postal

£341

£1,680

N/A

£1,680

N/A

ILR Dependant Relative PEO

£256

£1,930

N/A

£2,050

N/A

LTR Non Student Postal Main

£419

£475

£92

£500

£150

LTR Non Student PEO Main

£348

£730

£118

£800

£200

FLR (IED) (Postal)

£210

£400

£85

£500

£150

FLR(IED)(PEO)

£210

£650

£110

£800

£200

FLR (BUS) (Postal)

£210

£800

£125

£850

£250

Transfer of Conditions PEO

£341

£578

£57

£600

£150

Mobile Case working (Premium+)

£1,982

£15,000

N/A

£15,000

N/A

Employment LTR outside PBS Postal

£419

£475

£92

£500

£150

Employment LTR outside PBS PEO

£348

£730

£118

£800

£200



PBS Routes - Migrants In UK

Current Fees

New Proposal

Products

Unit Cost

Main applicant

Dependant

Main applicant

Dependant

Tier 1 General, Investor & Ent – Postal

£317

£840

£129

£850

£250

Tier 1 General, Investor & Ent PEO

£288

£1,095

£154

£1,150

£300

Tier 1 General/Ent - Postal CESC

£317

£767

£121

£770

£250

Tier 1 General/Ent PEO CESC

£288

£992

£144

£1,000

£300

Tier 1 (Post Study) - Postal

£317

£550

£100

£550

£150

Tier 1 (Post Study) - PEO

£325

£800

£125

£850

£250

Tier 1 Transition Postal

£259

£408

£85

£500

£150

Tier 1 Transition PEO

£275

£663

£111

£700

£200

Tier 2 - Postal

£344

£475

£92

£500

£150

Tier 2 - PEO

£330

£730

£118

£800

£200

Tier 2 - Postal CESC

£344

£434

£88

£450

£150

Tier 2-PEO CESC

£330

£669

£111

£700

£200

Tier 4-PEO

£374

£628

£107

£650

£150

Tier 5 - PEO

£369

£578

£57

£600

£150

Tier 5-PEO CESC

£380

£521

£52

£550

£150



PBS Sponsorship Products

Products

Unit Cost

Current Fees

New Proposal

Tier 2 Medium /Large Sponsor Licence

£880

£1,000

£1,000

Tiers 2 & 5 Medium /Large Sponsor

£880

£1,000

£1,000

Tiers 2 & 5 Medium /Large Sponsor

£880

£1,000

£1,000

Tiers 2 &4 & 5 Medium /Large Sponsor

£950

£1,000

£1,000

Tier 2 COS

£25

£170

£170

CESC = Council of Europe Social Charter Nationals