Fee Waivers: How to get Fee Waivers for Home Office applications
Immigration applications are very expensive. Currently a typical application will include costs of £1,258 to make the application, and additional costs such the immigration health surcharge (£1,035 a year for adults and £776 for children) which may need to be paid. There are further costs which may need to be paid such as the English language test, and the Super Priority Service. Overall, it is common that applicants will need to spend almost £3,850 per applicant to stay in the UK as a bare minimum. We expect these fees will continue to rise.
There is also legal representation to consider because the immigration system in the UK is complex and not easy to navigate. Legal aid is also almost exclusively for those with complex human rights matters, domestic abuse matters or for those claiming asylum.
It is clear that these fees are very expensive, but the good news is that applicants can apply for fee waivers if they satisfy certain requirements. We regularly deal with fee waiver applications. We do this by working closely with our clients, in order to demonstrate to the Home Office that without a fee waiver the client would be destitute. Below, we have provided three examples of successful fee waivers from this month.
Our experience with fee waiver applications:
The first client resided with his wife and two dependent daughters and demonstrated that he had no financial support to cover the necessary application fees. Given his circumstances including the responsibility for his dependents and the absence of financial resources, his fee waiver application was approved, allowing him to proceed without financial burden. Without a fee waiver, our client and his family would have been in a dire situation.
The second client provided evidence that he did not have the financial means to support the application fees, and as a result, his request for a fee exemption was granted. This is despite large sums of money entering and leaving his account as he was assisting a family member with sending their money abroad. We made submissions on this to the Home Office when making the application.
The third client also provided evidence that he would be unable to pay the application fees owing to a serious lack of financial stability. His application was also approved, which meant he has been able to proceed with his substantive application without needing to pay the very expensive Home Office fees.
Our extensive experience in securing fee waivers for clients means we are well placed to help you. Call us today to discuss whether a fee waiver is something you could apply for. Irishka Shetty dealt with these fee waiver applications, under Sashi Pararajasingam’s supervision.