Friday 14 July 2023

On Thursday 13 July 2023, the Government announced across-the-board increases in immigration and Immigration Health Surcharge fees for migrants. These fees are intended to fund a pay rise for public sector workers, ranging between 5% to 7% across sectors.

Immigration Health Surcharge fees

Immigration Health Surcharge fees, mandatory costs paid by migrants at the point of application to access NHS services, will substantially increase by 40% per applicant. The main rate shall rise from £624 per year to £1,035 and the discounted rate for students, under-18s and Youth Mobility Scheme  applicants will increase from £470 to £776.

Work and visit visas

Applications for work and visit visas will increase by 15%. For a five-year Skilled Worker visa, this will amount to a fee increase of approximately £185 per applicant.

Other visas

Fees for the following categories will increase by “at least 20%”:

• study visas;
• certificates of sponsorship;
• entry clearance applications;
• leave to remain applications;
• priority service;
• settlement applications; and
• citizenship applications;

Fee simplification

In addition to the above fee increases, the Minister for Immigration separately announced several simplified fee arrangements for minor fees previously applicable to some applications, including the following:

• abolishment of the £19.20 fee for biometric enrolment;
• abolishment of £161 fee for transfer of conditions applications;
• abolishment of fees for amendments such as a migrant’s name, nationality, sex marker and photograph on physical documents;
• elimination of fees for Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) where a document has expired and entails no further changes, such as expiration of BRPs for migrants holding Indefinite Leave to Remain ; and
• harmonisation of costs for students and those who opt to use the priority service by ensuring applications from within and outside the UK are the same.

This update will come as unwelcome news to many employers who are already finding it extremely difficult to recruit talent post-Brexit and are faced with chronic staff shortages as well as exorbitant and yet, ever-increasing, sponsorship fees.

Migrants and employers alike should begin preparing for these increases immediately and where possible submit applications prior to the changes coming into effect. As an implementation date has yet to be announced, we shall continue to provide updates on these developments.

Get in touch

To learn more about forthcoming changes to UK immigration law, see our website, contact your assigned LDI lawyer or email enquiries@lauradevine.com.