hsyasin wrote:I mean is there no stop to this? no regulatory body or anything??
I agree the charges are extortionate. Most of my friends and colleagues were shocked when I told them how much I paid through my visa journey. There is a way to put a stop to this. This is not meant in a rude manner and I do not want a flame war, but you could reevaluate whether you wish to remain in the UK.
The UKVI & the government are looking at what the market can bear. Are people flooding out of the UK to avoid paying these exorbitant charges? Not in any obvious manner.
A parallel is the increase in number of Americans renouncing US citizenship. US citizens are charged on their global income and as those taxes and responsibilities (of filing tax returns, etc) have increased onerously, people have started renouncing US citizenship. In a sense, people are voting with their wallets to leave. And that may be the only way to get this to stop.
But at the end of the day, if people are staying and paying, there is no reason for the government to reduce these charges. The Home Office is one of the few government departments other than the Treasury to earn money and given the spending reductions in the Budget, i can only see the fees and charges going one way; up.
abhisheks9 wrote:Bigger problem is other people here are actually discouraging people like us to take any legal action or go for judicial review and instead defending uKBa which not only illogical or doesn't make sense but makes already frustrated people isolated, and submit to discriminatory rules and regulations.
With respect,
@abhisheks9, people giving considered contrarian views are not a problem on a community forum, they are an asset. I would rather be "discouraged" on the forum by somebody explaining an alternate viewpoint than be encouraged in indulging in idle daydreaming.
While I am not a lawyer, the prospects of a judicial review or legal action in such a case are slim bordering on non-existent. The rules are made under laws passed by Parliament, which in our unwritten constitution is supreme. There is no obvious manner in which the rules and charges are illegal.
I'm not sure that a legal action on this question (of fees and charges) would engage human rights legislation, but if it were, in any case, significant changes to human rights legislation is coming down the tracks and it would be foolhardy to think that there would be any longterm change to the Home Office policy of increasing charges regularly.
Defending the UKBA/UKVI is not illogical. It has a specific job to do and while I strongly disagree with the rules set for it by the government, I appreciate that the staff at the UKVI do the job. Compared to where I come from, I appreciate that the rules are adhered to and yet have a certain amount of discretion, that the staff do their job fairly and transparently. I do not know of many other immigration departments who publish their internal guidelines, which helps us understand what outcome to expect, if not anticipate.