How the plans for a hike in visa application and health surcharge fees will affect British citizens and UK businesses: 3 case studies

On 13 July 2023, the UK Government announced a sharp increase in both the Immigration Health Surcharge and visa application fees. The Immigration Health Surcharge will increase from £624 per year to £1035 per year, a rise of 66%. Visa fees are set to increase by at least 15%, with many rising by 20% or more. This is the first significant fee increase since April 2018, and comes in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. It will negatively impact a wide range of families and individuals. It will also impact employers, many of whom meet these costs for their employees. The UK Government says the increases are being implemented to fund doctors’ and teachers’ salary increases.

The Government appears to be justifying the steep rises by claiming that they will only affect foreigners. However, with the exception of work visas, these massive increases will largely affect British families, as highlighted by the case-studies below. Even for non-British families, the changes will in many cases negatively impact a UK business, who may find themselves faced with the choice of losing an employee or helping that employee fund their visa costs in order to retain them.

The best way to appreciate the scale and impact of what is coming, is by looking at the change through the lens of a number of case-studies, which set out the actual current and future costs involved.

Couple returning from overseas to care for an elderly parent in the UK (one British citizen and one US citizen)

Jed and Jane live in California. They have taken early retirement and their three children are now grown up and living independently. Jane is a British citizen and Jed is a US citizen. They are looking to relocate to the UK to help look after Jane’s mother, Rita who is in her late eighties and requires personal care. Rita is currently receiving care from her local Social Services department.  If Jane comes to the UK, this care will be significantly reduced, resulting in savings to the public purse.

Jed would qualify for the 5-year partner visa route. He will have to make a visa application to enter the UK, then an extension application once he has lived here for 2.5 years. He will then make a final settlement application once he has lived here for 5 years. At each point he makes a visa application, he will have to pay the visa fee and the ‘Immigration Health Surcharge’ (Health Surcharge), he may also choose to pay optional fees for a faster decision.

Below we set out a comparison of what Jed would pay for his three applications on the current rates and what he will pay once the increases take effect. The exact visa fee increase for the partner route and priority service have not yet been announced, but the Government has indicated that it will be ‘at least 20%’ - future fees have been calculated on a 20% basis.

With the current fees, and assuming Jed opts for the priority services, he will pay a total of £10,595 over the course of his journey to Indefinite Leave to Remain. Without the priority service, he would pay £8,422.

Following the increase to the Health Surcharge and an increase of 20% to the other fees, Jed would pay £14,290 with the priority service and £11,682 without the priority service, a total increase in fees of £4,325 and £3,260 respectively.

Spanish engineer living in the UK with his family (wife and three children) and working for a family engineering business based in Edinburgh

Javier moved to the UK after Brexit in 2021 for work. He relocated with his wife and three children.  His employer issued him a Certificate of Sponsorship which enabled him to apply for a 3-year work visa. He earns £35,000 per year. His children are aged 3, 5 and 7 and his wife is a stay-at-home parent.

The initial costs were:

He and each of his family members will require to make two further visa applications, one prior to his current visa expiring and a final visa application once he has been here for 5 years.

Javier and his wife have been saving monthly for further visa costs of £22,389, based on the current costs:

After the increase, they will need at least £30,372, based on the Government’s announcement that work visa fees will increase by at least 15% and Indefinite Leave to Remain by at least 20%.

Javier and his wife don’t want to leave the UK as their children are settled here and they enjoy their lives in Edinburgh. However, the increase in costs is causing them to consider whether they should relocate back to Spain. He plans to discuss the fee increase with his employer, to see if they would be willing to help with costs.

Returning ex-pat family looking to make an extension application

Chris is a British citizen who worked in Dubai for a number of years. He met his wife Sylvie, who is a national of the Philippines and the couple have 2 children, Dylan and Travis, who are British citizens. Sylvie arrived in the UK on a partner visa in January 2021, her visa is due to expire on 30 November 2023.  If she makes her visa application with on today’s fees, the costs will be £1,048 for the visa fee and £1,560 for the Health Surcharge: a total of £2,608. If she makes the application after the increase, then the visa fee will be £1,872 and £2,588 for the Health Surcharge: a total of £4,460. Normally, visa applications cannot be made until 28 days before the visa expires. However, for partner visas, the extension application can be made 28 days before the applicant has been in the UK for 30 months. This means Sylvie can and should make her application now, and in doing so saves £1,852.

Recommendations for individuals and employers

If you are going to be affected by the changes, you should speak to your immigration solicitor to check how early you can make your visa or nationality application. You should avoid delaying your application if possible.  For those who hold indefinite leave to remain (otherwise known as permanent residence), if you have thought about becoming a British citizen and if you qualify, applying before the price increase is likely to save you around £250.

For employers, you should be looking to see if any of your employees’ visas will run out soon and whether they could be applying to extend these as a priority. Even the business is not meeting visa costs, it may be worthwhile communicating the Government’s intention to increase visa fees to employees, so they are aware of this development and can take appropriate steps.

If you are sponsoring new employees, you may wish to sponsor them for five years, rather than three, so that they will not need to make a more expensive extension application before qualifying for Indefinite Leave to Remain.

This article will be updated as soon as we know when the changes are going to be introduced.

If you would like support with making a visa or nationality application, please contact either Jacqueline Moore or another member of the immigration team.  Further information on how we can assist with application is on our website here.