Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason his Department decided to charge visa applicants £5.48 for email inquiries.

The £5.48 email charge is levied to fund the UKVI contact centre commercial contract as the UK government believes it is right that those who use and benefit directly from the UK immigration system make an appropriate contribution towards meeting the costs of it. This email charge includes the initial e-mail enquiry plus any follow-up e-mails to and from the contact centre relating to the same enquiry.

The international charge (£5.48 per email enquiry) was introduced on 1st June 2017 as part of the UKVI Contact Centre operations contract awarded to SITEL UK Ltd

Those who use the services are predominantly from outside the UK. Our web site www.gov.uk is the main source of information and advice and is free of charge.

Further details of the financial arrangement in place between the Home Office and SITEL UK Ltd for the provision of Contact Centre Services (UK and International) is not available due to it being commercially sensitive.