UK Visa Fee Hike!

[scorpio_besal]

The fee for UK visas would be hiked from 22nd November 2010. Despite being delayed again, the probability is much high that sooner or later this fee would be increased. There are specific programs where in the visa fee for the dependents who are filing applications to remain in UK would either double or triple.

There would also be a major hike in the immigration fee especially for the Tier 1 and Tier 2 visas being applied from outside the nation. This might also lead to many applicants simply skipping the idea of immigration under the skilled migration categories.

The hike for the various visas is as follows:







With most of the visa categories catering to a hike in fee, it cannot be ruled out that this development might have a negative impact on the UK economy. With the immigration cap being implemented along with this, the number of applications would come down drastically. More so, skilled migration which is important for the UK economy might literally come to a standstill. Apart from this, the tourism industry would also be affected.

On the other hand, British nationals intending to work in the non – EU nations might have to pay higher fee for visa in return. This is because there are many nations who tend to charge a higher fee from those citizens of nations which tend to charge more. Above all, the outcome of these amends being implemented would soon be seen.

[Mela]

I'm not sure if the rise in fees is going to affect immigration inflows much.

Moreover, i personally don't mind high fees as soon as UKBA provide fast and good quality service. Unfortunately,the real situation is that UKBA is rising fees and not improving its service. I'm referring to the in-country application, where the waiting times can take up at least 1,5 months or more to process. Applicants sometimes wait for their visas for months and there is nowhere to call and noone to ask.

Even the premium PEO service is not really effective enough, given that you have to make appointment 2 or 3 months in advance OR break the phone lines every day at 8.59 am in order to secure appointments (according to the tips on how to secure appointment at PEO, which i read on this forum). This is ridiculous!

Why not to introduce even higher-band fee, something like a super premium fee, where you don't have to hunt for places months in advance and which would guarantee same day service for straight-forawrd applications.

[wunder]

Why not to introduce even higher-band fee, something like a super premium fee, where you don't have to hunt for places months in advance and which would guarantee same day service for straight-forawrd applications.

They already did that - for "just" £5000 (or something in that region) they will send their staff to you at home

[Mela]

Why not to introduce even higher-band fee, something like a super premium fee, where you don't have to hunt for places months in advance and which would guarantee same day service for straight-forawrd applications.

They already did that - for "just" £5000 (or something in that region) they will send their staff to you at home

For someone, who is lets say applying for Tier 1 investor visa and investing millions, 5000 GBP fee could be affordable, so why not?

What i meant in my earlier post is that UKBA should introduce different fee bands depending on the type of the service. Rising the fees without improvement in service is just complete rip-off.