Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made any assessment of the potential merits of lowering the costs of settlement visas for spouses of British citizens.

The Home Office keeps fees for immigration and nationality applications under regular review. Fees are set in accordance with the powers in Section 68 of the Immigration Act 2014, which allow the Department to take account of a range of factors, including the cost of processing applications, the benefits and entitlements associated with a successful application, and the wider costs of operating the migration and borders system.

The Home Office does not make a profit from these fees; income generated above the estimated unit cost contributes to the operation of the migration and borders system, helping to reduce the burden on UK taxpayers.

The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, is currently subject to public consultation, running until 12 February 2026. The consultation seeks views on the impact proposed changes might have on different groups. Details of the earned settlement model will be finalised following that consultation.

The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.