Home Office increases immigration forms and visa fees from March 29
Thursday 28 March 2019 1:27 AM UTC
LONDON March 28: The Home Office has increased fees for most of the visa applications from Friday, March 29, 2019. As usual the applicants are vulnerable and left with no choice. UK visa fees were considered to be the most expensive in the woprld already.
According to immigration experts, on top of this fee increase, due to complicated and confusing UK visa procedures, many people may lose their visa fee due to mistakes in the visa application process.
The fee increases come amid a series of changes to UK immigration rules affecting the Tier 1 and Tier 2 visa categories. The reforms have been described as some of the biggest to UK immigration rules for many years.
The key changes to UK visa fees affect international visitors, the EU settlement scheme and above-basic and fast-track UK Visa and Immigration services.
The key visa fee increases include:
A £2 rise in the cost of a six-month short-term visit visa from £93 to £95.
An £11 rise in the cost of a two-year, long-term visit visa from £350 to £361.
A £19 fee increase for a five-year, long-term visit visa from £636 to £655.
A £24 rise in the cost of a 10-year, long-term visit visa from £798 to £822.
There’s also a £4 fee increase for Academic Visitor and Private Medical Treatment visas from £186 to £190, while the fee for the overseas optional Priority Visa – Non-Settlement service has been set at £220.
A number of fee increases have occurred for Priority Services, including:
A £190 rise for in-country, Super Priority services from £610 to £800.
A £23 rise for the in-country Priority service from £477 to £500.
An £8 rise for out-of-country Priority Visa (General) services from £212 to £220.
The Home Office memo states: “Fees for entry clearance to enter the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man, as a visitor, and for the priority visa service, will rise in-line with the same fees charged for applicants coming to the UK.”
UK Visa Fee increases for other categories
In addition to fee increases across UK visitor visa categories and priority services, the Home Office outlined a number of other cost increases, including:
A £15 rise in the Electronic Visa Waiver fee from £15 to £30.
An increase of £1.30 for Border Force Fast-Track service at Heathrow Terminals 2, 3 and 4 from £3.90 to £5.20.
A rise in the current £53.08 hourly rate for Border Force ‘above-basic services’ in June, with two new fees coming into effect – a fee of £57.33 has been set to reflect administrative functions provided, including services to other government departments; while another fee of £77.40 has been set to reflect the increased premium nature of commercial based services.
New fees for the UK innovator and start-up visas, which replace the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) and Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) routes. Fees for the new visas will be set at the same rate as the visas they are replacing, initially.
A new fee of £244 applicable to entry clearance for the Bailiwick of Jersey under their new Temporary Seasonal Work Permit arrangements. The fee is the same as that which will be charged under Tier 5 in the UK, for the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Pilot.
No Tier 2 visa fee increases
Despite several increases across a number of categories, fees for Tier 2 visa applications will remain fixed at their current rate, the Home Office said.
The government agency’s memo said: ‘Fees under the sponsorship system have been held since April 2015.’
Further information, help, and advice on UK visa applications
Workpermit.com has been in the immigration services business for thirty years, and have helped thousands of people to study and work in the UK.
We work under Section 84 of the 1999 immigration act and can submit your UK visa application to the Home Office to be dealt with on the same day.
For more information and advice on UK immigration law and UK visa applications please contact us on 0344 991 9222 or at london@workpermit.com
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