New Home Office Fees From 6 April 2014 and New Expedited Services

On 6 April 2014 fee changes – mostly increases – came into force for visas, immigration and nationality applications and wider premium services.

The new fees table is available here. 

Having looked at the new fees list, it is clear that there has been a significant increase in fees, with a huge 4% increase for the majority of fees. These include: 

• Removal of the 25% discount given to dependants when applying with a main applicant in the UK. 
• Increasing nationality registration fees to 90% of the naturalisation fee. Minors receive a 10% reduction from the adult fee when applying for registration. 
• Applying a staggered rise to long-term visit visas to enable the 10-year visit visa fee to be frozen. This means that the 2 year visit visa is rising by a higher percentage than the 5 year visit visa. 
• Increasing the fee to make an application in person at Premium Service Centres from £375 to £400 and the priority postal fee available for Tier 2 applicants from £275 to £300. 
• Introduction of the Registered Traveller scheme which allows expedited border clearance to regular visitors from a number of countries. The service will be available to non-EEA visitors from specific countries with an e-passport, who visit the UK at least 4 times a year. A yearly fee of £50 will be rolled out following a successful pilot. 

Outside of the UK, the Home Office is introducing a number of premium services which were previously only available in a limited number of countries and is introducing a global fee for services that were previously charged at local rates: 

• A fee of £100 for a 3-5 day priority visa service has been introduced. A similar service for settlement applications is also available, with a fee of £300. 
• A fee of £600 is available for a super priority visa service which will usually provide a visa decision within 24 hours. 
• New user visa application centres will be opened, where applicants can submit applications and enrol biometrics at additional, convenient locations. The fee for this service will be £59. 
• Appointments will be made available outside of office hours to offer more flexibility to customers. These appointments will be charged at £50. 
• The passport pass-back service will also be rolled out to more locations, which will ensure that applicants have the ability to hold on to their passport for most of the application process, and rather significantly, enabling them to travel while their application is considered. This service will be charged at £40 per applicant.