Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much was paid by non-EU applicants for student visas; and what the average cost to the public purse was to process those applications in each of the last seven years.

The Home Office does not hold the information in the format requested. Visa income is not differentiated between the various categories in which they are received. Our ledger will not allow us to provide this level of detail.In order to provide the cost of processing non EU student visa applications, would involve sifting through all student applications data which would exceed the £850 cost limit.

The cost of processing visa applications varies by application type and these are set out in the published unit costs and fees table, which can be accessed via the links attached. Tier 4 main application fees payable by Non EU students and the estimated unit costs of each application for the last seven financial years. Information regarding application fees and unit costs for all immigration routes from April 2014 onwards can be found via the following links:

FY 2014/15: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20141221142623/https:/www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/279536/Fees_Table_April_2014.pdf

FY 2015/16: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/768/pdfs/uksiem_20150768_en.pdf

FY 2016/17: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/503759/2016_Unit_Costs_Table.pdf

FY 2017/18: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/606616/Unit_cost_table_2017.pdf