Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of the £5.48 email receipt charge levied on emails to UK Visas and Immigration from outside the UK will represent a return to the public purse.

The £5.48 email charge is levied to fund the 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 the immigration system. Those who use the services from outside the UK are predominantly prospective customers and in many cases no application will be made and no application fee collected.

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