The government announces immigration fee changes effective 6 April 2016

On 11 January 2016, the government set out its proposed changes to the fees for visas, immigration and nationality applications and associated premium services from 6 April 2016.

The government is proposing to set maximum levels on the amounts for broad categories of fees that can be charged by the Home Office over the next four years. There are no current plans to raise fees to the maximum levels. However, the stated goal is to make the border, immigration and citizenship system self-funded by those who use it.

The main changes are:

• Small increases (2%) for visit, study and work visas –  for entry clearance fees for Tier 2, these will rise from £564 to £575 for a three year visa and from £1,128 to £1,151 for a visa up to five years. In-country further leave to remain will rise from £651 to £664 for a three year visa and from £1,302 to £1,328 for a visa up to five years. The same fees will be charged for each dependant
• The maximum fee proposed for all Tier 2 applications is £1,500 although, as stated above there are no immediate plans to increase the fees to this amount
• Same day processing for in-country applications will increase by 25% - from the current £400 to £500
• Priority postal processing for in-country applications will increase by 25% - from the current £300 to £375
• Fees for settlement will increase by 25% – for a main applicant and every dependant applying for settlement, the fees will rise from £1,500 to £1,875 each. If same day processing is required, each applicant will now need to pay £2,375. The maximum level of fees proposed for this category is £3,250 each
• Fees for nationality will increase by 25% - each applicant will now need to pay £1,156, up from the current fee of £1,005
• Fees for all sponsor licensing applications will stay at the current rates

The new fees for applications can be found in the fees table. 

Further information

For further information on the issues raised in this blog post please contact a member of the immigration team.