EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM TO
THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY (FEES) REGULATIONS 2013
2013 No. XXXX
1. This explanatory memorandum has been prepared by the UK Border Agency
of the Home Office and is laid before Parliament by Command of Her
Majesty.
This memorandum contains information for the Joint Committee on Statutory
Instruments.
2. Purpose of the instrument
2.1 The purpose of this instrument is to specify fees for applications, services and
processes relating to immigration and nationality where those fees exceed the
administrative cost of dealing with the application or providing the process or
service. They replace the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations
2012 and come into force on 6 April 2013.
3. Matters of special interest to the Joint Committee on Statutory
Instruments
3.1 These regulations contain some fee increases above the rate of inflation. More
detail in set out in sections 7.8 to 7.22 of this memorandum.
4. Legislative context
4.1 These regulations follow on from the Immigration and Nationality (Fees)
Order 2011, as amended by the Immigration and Nationality (Fees)
(Amendment) Order 2013, which sets out those applications, processes and
services relating to immigration and nationality for which fees can be charged.
These regulations will replace the Immigration and Nationality (Fees)
Regulations 2012, which together with the Immigration and Nationality (Cost
Recovery Fees) Regulations 2012
1
, have specified immigration and nationality
fees since 6 April 2012.
4.2 There are two sets of fees regulations because regulations setting fees
exceeding the administrative cost of dealing with applications or providing the
relevant processes or services must be approved in draft by Parliament before
they are made. Currently, those fees are to be found in the Immigration and
Nationality (Fees) Regulations 2012, which these regulations will replace.
Fees set at or below cost do not require prior parliamentary approval. Such
fees are currently specified in the Immigration and Nationality (Cost Recovery
Fees) Regulations 2012, which will also be replaced by a new set of
1
Which were amended in October 2012 by the Immigration and Nationality (Cost Recovery Fees)
(Amendment) Regulations 2012.
regulations laid under the negative procedure, which are also due to come into
force on 6 April 2013.
5. Territorial extent and application
5.1 This instrument extends to the United Kingdom. The regulations also set fees
for entry clearance to enter the Channel Islands.
6. European Convention on Human Rights
6.1 Mark Harper MP, the Immigration Minister, has made the following statement
regarding human rights:
“In my view the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Fees
Regulations 2013 are compatible with the European Convention on Human
Rights.”
7. Policy background
What we are doing and why:
7.1 The fees contained in these regulations are set above the administrative cost of
providing the application, process or service in line with the government’s
flexible charging model. Charging fees above the cost of administration helps
raise the revenue required to fund the immigration system and to cross-
subsidise fees set below cost for immigration routes where a lower fee
supports government objectives. As a direct result of the fees referred to in this
instrument, the UK Border Agency is able to generate sufficient income to
support the immigration system, maintain public confidence and ensure that
migration is controlled for the benefit of the UK.
7.2 The UK Border Agency aims to generate an appropriate contribution to its
agreed running costs from the income generated from visa, nationality and
immigration applications. By doing this, the Agency seeks to reduce the
financial obligation on the UK taxpayer to subsidise the immigration system.
It is also able to protect certain routes from significant fee increases while
generating the additional revenue needed to fund enforcement and other
necessary improvements to the immigration system.
7.3 Fees are set above cost to reflect the value of the products in terms of the
benefits and entitlements that would accrue to a successful applicant. The
Agency takes into account the different rights and entitlements applicable for
each application route. For example, some routes give a successful applicant
valuable entitlements such as access to the UK labour market without the need
for a sponsor, leave that qualifies for settlement, and the ability to bring
dependants to the UK who can also work without restriction and access
benefits. The fee charged for such routes are set at a higher level to reflect
these valuable entitlements. In comparison, other routes may not attract
entitlements of the same level and are therefore priced accordingly. Where
fees are set higher for certain routes, it enables the Secretary of State to
minimise fee increases in others, including those considered to be the most
economically sensitive (for example visitors, workers, students and
businesses).
7.4 This year, the UK Border Agency is proposing a flat rate 3% increase across
the majority of application routes. In addition, targeted increases to some
application types are proposed to meet strategic charging policy objectives and
prevent greater increases across all fees. For example, the concession on fees
paid by dependants applying in country has been reduced from 50% to 25% of
the main applicant’s fee; the fee for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) has
been aligned with the fee for other applications where entitlements to a
successful applicant are significant; and nationality registration application
fees have been increased to better reflect entitlements.
7.5 The Agency is reviewing its premium services strategy and intends to expand
and improve services to give customers greater flexibility, particularly if they
need to travel urgently or prefer face-to-face services. To support this, the
charging structure for optional premium services has been reviewed and
simplified.
7.6 The Agency has published indicative unit costs for each application for the
financial year 2013-14. Full details are available at
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk. The unit cost is the estimated average
cost to the agency of processing each application. These costs are provided to
Parliament to ensure transparency. Although they are not fixed over the
course of the financial year, published unit costs will enable applicants to see
which fees are set over cost and by how much, and which fees are set under
cost and by how much.
7.7 The tables below set out the current fee levels and the new proposed fees, for
products that are set above cost or included in these regulations:
VISA FEES
PRODUCTS
2012-13 Fees
(£)
Estimated Unit
Cost for 13-14
(£)
Proposed Fee
for 13-14
(£)
Non PBS Visas
Long term visit visa (up to 2 years) 270 136 278
Long term visit visa (up to 5 years) 496 136 511
Long term visit visa (up to 10 years) 716 136 737
Extended Student Visit Visa (between 6 &
11 months) 140 136 144
Settlement visa 826 407 851
Settlement visa – Armed Forces
Dependant 810 407 810
Settlement Visa - Dependant Relative 1,850 407 1,906
Other visa 270 207 278
Media Representative 480 207 494
PBS Visas
Tier 1 (Entrepreneur, Investor,
Exceptional Talent), main applicant 816 295 840
Tier 1 (Entrepreneur, Investor,
Exceptional Talent), all dependants 816 295 840
Tier 1, CESC, main applicant 734 295 756
Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur), main
applicant NEW 295 298
Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur), all
dependants NEW 295 298
Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur), CESC,
main applicant NEW 295 268
Tier 1 (Post Study Work), dependants 483 295 498
Tier 2 (General), ICT – Long term staff,
Sport & MOR, main applicant 480 207 494
Tier 2 (General), ICT – Long term staff,
Sport & MOR, all dependants 480 207 494
Tier 2 (General), ICT – Long term staff,
Sport & MOR, CESC, main applicant 432 207 445
Tier 2 (ICT Short term staff, Graduate
Trainee or Skills Transfer), main
Applicant 400 207 412
Tier 2 (ICT Short term staff, Graduate
Trainee or Skills Transfer), all dependants 400 207 412
Tier 2 (ICT Short term staff, Graduate
Trainee or Skills Transfer), CESC, main
applicant 360 207 371
Tier 4 (main applicant) 289 244 298
Tier 4 (dependant) 289 244 298
CESC = Council of Europe Charter reduction
ICT=Intra Company Transfer
MOR=Minister of religion
Applications to the Channel Islands under Employment and Study routes attract Tier 2 & Tier 4 fees and costs
respectively.
IN UK – Leave to Remain and Nationality Fees
PRODUCTS
2012-13
fees
(£)
Estimated
unit cost for
2013-14
(£)
Proposed
fees for
2013-14
(£)
Dependants
fee
(£)
NON PBS ROUTES - Migrants in UK
ILR standard, main applicant 991 403 1,051 788
ILR standard, CESC, main applicant 893 403 946 788
LTR Other, standard, main applicant 561 281 578 433
Mobile case working (Premium+)
6,000 +
premium
fee
2,211
6,000 +
standard fee
+ AIP fee
N/A
Residual FLR IED standard, main
applicant
561 281 578 433
Residual FLR BUS standard, main
applicant
1,020 281 1,051 788
Employment LTR outside PBS, standard 561 281 578 433
Application in person fee* N/A N/A 375 375
Appointment booking fee* N/A N/A 100 100
Additional Out of Hours Premium**–,
main applicant
300 N/A 300 225
Nationality applications - Migrants in UK
Naturalisation (UK Citizenship), single
application***
851 187 874 N/A
Naturalisation (UK Citizenship), joint
application***
1,317 281 1,550 N/A
Naturalisation (UK Citizenship) spousal
application ***
851 187 874 N/A
Nationality Registration, adult *** 631 187 753 N/A
Registration as a British subject/British
Overseas Territories Citizen, adult 551 187 568 N/A
Nationality Registration, minor, 551 187 673 N/A
Nationality Registration, multiple minor 827 281 1,178 505
ILR=Indefinite Leave to Remain
LTR=Limited Leave to Remain
PEO=Public Enquiry Office
IED=Immigration Employment Document
FLR =Further Leave to Remain
PBS=Points Based System
*For applications made in person (e.g. at a public enquiry office) the total fee is the relevant standard fee plus £375 per
person (this includes the £100 appointment fee, which
may be retained should the applicant fail to attend their appointment without
good reason
).
**Out of Hours Premium fee payable is payable in addition to standard fee and application in person fee
*** Includes additional £80 per applicant is payable to cover the ceremony fee.
PBS routes – Migrants in UK
PRODUCTS
2012-13
fees
(£)
Estimated
unit cost for
2013-14
(£)
Proposed
fees for
2013-14
(£)
Dependants
fee
(£)
PBS ROUTES – Migrants in UK
Tier 1 (General), standard, main applicant 1,500 336 1,545 1,159
Tier 1 (General), CESC, standard, main
applicant 1,350 336 1,391 1,159
Tier 1 (Entrepreneur, Investor,
Exceptional Talent), standard, main
applicant 1,020 351 1,051 788
Tier 1 (Entrepreneur, Investor,
Exceptional Talent), CESC, standard,
main applicant 918 351 946 788
Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur), standard,
main applicant 700 482 406 305
Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur), CESC,
standard main applicant 630 482 365 305
Tier 2 (General, ICT long term staff, Sport
& MOR), standard, main applicant 561 225 578 434
Tier 2 (General, ICT long term staff, Sport
& MOR) CESC, standard, main applicant
505 225 520 434
Tier 2 (ICT short term staff, Graduate
trainee or Skills Transfer), standard main
applicant 400 187 412 309
Tier 2 (ICT short term staff, Graduate
trainee or Skills Transfer), CESC,
standard, main applicant 360 187 371 309
Tier 4 standard, main applicant 394 238 406 305
Application in person fee* N/A N/A 375 375
Appointment booking fee* N/A N/A 100 100
Priority Service fee** N/A N/A 275 275
Additional Out of Hours Premium,***–
main applicant
300 N/A 300 225
CESC = Council of Europe Charter reduction
ICT =Intra company transfer
PEO=Public Enquiry Office
MOR=Minister of religion
*For applications made in person (e.g. at a public enquiry office) the total fee is the relevant standard fee plus £375 per
person (this includes the £100 appointment fee, which
may be retained should the applicant fail to attend their appointment without
good reason
).
**To use the priority service, the total fee is the relevant standard fee plus £275 per person. Initially offered for Tier 2
applications only..
*** Out of Hours Premium fee payable is payable in addition to standard fee and application in person fee
PBS Sponsorship Products
PRODUCTS
2012/13 Fees
(£)
Estimated Unit
Cost for 13/14
(£)
Proposed 13/14
fees
(£)
Premium sponsor service, large sponsors 25,000 N/A 25,000
Premium sponsor service, small sponsors 8,000 N/A 8,000
Premium sponsor service, Tier 4 N/A N/A 8,000
Tier 2 Large Sponsor licence 1,500 1,545 1,545*
Tier 2 Certificate of Sponsorship 179 154 184
* These fees are set at cost but included in these regulations for ease of reference.
7.8 Fee increases have been limited to 3% for most routes. The following
paragraphs explain the key exceptions and reasons.
Dependants applying to extend their leave in the UK
7.9 The UK Border Agency has reviewed the way fees are set for applications
from dependants applying to extend their leave in the UK. Last year, we
maintained the fee at 50% of the main applicant’s fee where a dependant
applies at the same time as the main applicant. We propose to reduce this
concession to 25%. This fee structure is closer to that in place for visas,
where all people applying for the same category of leave pay the same
individual fee. The UK Border Agency believes this is the right approach
because each application creates an additional processing cost for the agency
and provides a successful applicant with an independent set of rights and
entitlements.
Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) applications
7.10 The Agency proposes increasing the fee for applications for indefinite leave to
remain in the UK from £991 to £1051. We believe the right to stay indefinitely
in the UK is the most valuable entitlement offered by the Agency. Therefore,
the fee for this route should not be lower than the fee charged for other routes
with lesser entitlements. This increase brings the fee for ILR applications to a
level where it is not exceeded by other routes for migrants who are in the UK
on a temporary basis.
Routes to British citizenship
7.11 Naturalisation (Nationality) applications are for migrants who want to become
British citizens. The fees charged for these applications are set at levels above
cost recovery to reflect the entitlements and benefits available to applicants.
For example, successful applicants under this route have the ability to apply
for a British passport that provides them with free movement rights within the
European Economic Area (EEA) and allows them to live and work in any part
of the European Union (EU).
7.12 Registration as a British citizen confers similar entitlements to naturalisation.
Therefore, the Agency is proposing a higher increase for registration
applications, from £551 to £673 (plus an additional £80 to cover the
citizenship ceremony fee) to reduce the price differential between these two
application types. A fee of £794, up from £771 (plus the ceremony fee) will
apply to naturalisation applications. A lower fee of £568, up from the previous
level of £551, will apply to applications for alternative statuses such as British
subject or British Overseas Territories Citizen, where there are fewer
entitlements for successful applicants.
Tier 1 routes
7.13 Last year, a new sub-category, Graduate Entrepreneur, was added to the Tier 1
in-country route. This year, the Agency is extending this route to allow
applications from overseas and to permit MBA graduates from UK business
schools who have a strong business proposal to remain in the UK. A fee of
£298 is proposed for overseas applications and £406 for applications made in
the UK. This will align Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur fees with Tier 4 student
fees. Successful applicants will be able to engage in business, undertake
supplementary work and bring their dependants to the UK.
7.14 Changes are also being introduced to the Tier 1 Exceptional Talent route. This
route caters for exceptionally talented individuals in the field of science,
humanities engineering and the arts, who wish to come to the UK to work. To
encourage further take up in this route, the way in which applications are
processed is being changed. Applicants will initially pay a portion of the fee
(£420) for the designated competent body to consider endorsing their
application. If this stage is completed successfully, the rest of the fee is then
payable for the leave to enter (£420) or leave to remain (£631) aspect of the
application to be processed. A successful applicant in this route will have free
access to the UK labour market and may qualify to meet the criteria for
permanent residence in the UK.
Tier 4 visa (student)
7.15 The Agency proposes an increase in the Tier 4 visa fee to £298, an increase of
3% from the previous level of £289. Although this increase is the same as has
been applied across most routes, it brings the fee for this route to a level that
exceeds the estimated unit cost. This is consistent with the fee for Tier 4
applications in the UK, which is already higher than cost.
7.16 Careful consideration has been given to this fee. Tier 4 is a key route for the
UK Border Agency, the education system in general, and for the broader
economy. However, we do not believe there is a direct relationship between
marginal visa fee increases and visa demand. Research has shown that visa
pricing is a marginal consideration for students and the price of a Tier 4 visa
represents less than 1% of the total cost of coming to study in the UK for three
years.
Fees for sponsorship under the Points Based System
7.17 Last year, we introduced a new, optional premium sponsor status category for
Tier 2 and 5 sponsors. The Agency will now offer the benefits that this status
entitled sponsors to as a service. This better reflects the nature of the service
provided and provides greater flexibility in respect of customer service. For
example, if a sponsor no longer qualified for, or wished to withdraw from the
premium service the Agency could refund the proportion of the fee from the
time they wish to cease premium service and the time their period of premium
service was due to end. If the fee is charged purely to consider the application
for premium status this flexibility is not an option.
7.18 In addition, from 1 July, the Agency will offer a similar service to Tier 4
sponsors for a fee of £8,000. For this, education providers will receive benefits
including access to a named account manager, priority consideration of post-
licence casework, monthly information reports on certificate allocations and
access to student eligibility checks. The service has been offered free of charge
during 2012 and was well received by sponsors, who indicated they would be
willing to pay for the service.
Migrant premium services
7.19 The UK Border Agency is planning to improve and expand the availability of
its optional premium services, and to offer greater choice for its customers.
The Agency has made some changes to the way it sets fees and introduced
some new services to support this. Rather than setting several different
application fees for each application, depending on whether it was made by
post, or online, or at a UK Border Agency Public Enquiry Office, the agency
will now set one standard application fee for each application type. Applicants
will then be able to pay an additional, separate fee if they want to buy any
additional premium services.
7.20 Therefore, from 6 April 2013, applicants who choose to make an application
in person will pay the standard application fee that applies to their application
type plus a single premium uplift fee of £375. Making this change will
simplify the regulations, improve consistency and offer greater flexibility to
the benefit of customers. For example, by specifying applications made in
person, the Agency will have more scope to deliver premium face-to-face
services at different locations to meet customer and business needs.
7.21 We appreciate how difficult it can be to get appointments at Public Enquiry
Offices. On too many occasions appointments are not kept and we are not
always able to reallocate them to other applicants. There have also been
significant problems with spurious, block booked appointments. To help
address this, the £375 fee for an application made in person will comprise two
components: a fee of £100 will apply for the arrangement of an in-person
appointment; while the remainder of the £375 in-person fee will be for
expedited processing of the application. The £100 fee may be retained by the
UK Border Agency if an appointment is subsequently cancelled without good
reason and not rebooked, or if an application is withdrawn before the
appointment happens.
7.22 Finally, the Agency is also introducing a new optional priority service for
applicants who want an expedited decision but do not want to attend a public
enquiry office in person. The proposed fee for this service is £275, paid in
addition to the standard application fee that applies for a given application
type. This service will offer an expedited online or postal application service.
From April, it will be open to selected Tier 2 in-UK applicants and we intend
to make the service available to remaining temporary and permanent migration
routes later. A free trial of the service was introduced on 8 October 2012 and
was praised by users, particularly the quick turnaround times and high level of
customer service received.
8. Consultation outcome
8.1 The UK Border Agency ran a full public consultation on ‘Charging for
Immigration and Visa Applications’ between 1 September 2009 and 1 January
2010. Over 90% of respondents agreed that the UK Border Agency should
continue to set fees flexibly by taking into account wider policy objectives,
such as attracting specific groups of migrants that are beneficial to the UK.
The UK Border Agency published the formal government response to the
consultation on 14 January 2010 on its website at
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100422120657/http:/www.ukba.h
omeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/consultations/charging09/
8.2 Other consultation exercises on fees and charging have taken place. The UK
Border Agency first conducted a full public consultation exercise on charging
for immigration and nationality applications between 30 October and 22
December 2006, supported by the publication of a ‘Consultation on a New
Charging Regime for Immigration & Nationality Fees’. The formal
government response to that consultation was published on 7 March 2007, and
is available on the UK Border Agency website at:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100422120657/http://www.ukba.
homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/consultations/newchargingr
egime/
8.3 This consultation established the principle that the UK Border Agency should
operate a flexible pricing approach to setting fees for immigration services.
Since then, fees have been set taking into account the need to maintain the
UK’s international competitiveness, but also to ensure that there is sufficient
income to manage and improve the immigration system while reducing the
contribution made by the taxpayer. The majority of respondents to the
consultation agreed that fees should be set flexibly to take into account wider
policy objectives and that new fees should reflect a range of factors, not only
those of value to the migrant.
8.4 A further, targeted consultation exercise on fees and charges to support the
Points Based System and for biometric identity documents was held from 24
October to 9 November 2007. The Agency consulted key stakeholders,
including representative bodies and umbrella organisations. The Agency used
information from this exercise to set fees for the new services first provided to
migrants and sponsors under the Points Based System in 2008.
9. Guidance
9.1 The Agency will announce details of the new fee levels and their
commencement dates to Parliament in a Written Ministerial Statement. Full
details of each fee and guidance to general members of the public on how to
apply under each route will be made available on the UK Border Agency
website.
10. Impact
10.1 The impact on business, charities and voluntary bodies is estimated to be zero
net cost as explained in the full impact assessment attached at Annex A to this
Explanatory Memorandum, which will also be published at
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk
10.2 The impact on the public sector is explained in Annex 6 of the attached impact
assessment.
11. Regulating small business
11.1 The legislation applies to small business.
11.2 To minimise the impact of the requirements on firms employing up to 50
people, we have maintained our approach of charging a lower fee for small
businesses who apply for either the standard sponsor licence or the optional
premium sponsor services.
12. Monitoring & review
12.1 The UK Border Agency will closely monitor the impact of fees for the
application and services contained in these regulations. The UK Border
Agency reviews fees and charges for immigration and nationality applications
annually. The UK Border Agency monitors application trends on a monthly
basis and officials from all relevant government departments consider
proposals to amend fee levels to ensure they do not adversely impact on the
UK economy.
13. Contact
13.1 Shola Akinyamoju at the Charging Programme of the UK Border Agency, Tel:
0208 196 0890 or email: Shola.Akinyam[email protected] who can
answer any queries regarding the instrument.
