Emailing UKVI (HO) will cost £5.48

[MrSlyFox]

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cust ... ce-changes

- Thought this might be relevant to the forum, I wasn't sure where to post but it seems like a general immigration issue/news/discussion. -

Charging people just to find out information seems very harsh, I remember reading about how the fees have gone from nil to over 1000 pounds for most applications since 2003 (believe it was in the article about a hostile environment - general-uk-immigration-forum/the-hostil ... 32055.html ) Personally I think it is quite a bit of extortion to individuals who in order to legally comply with the law have no other choice but pay unreasonable high fees.

P.s.
1. How do the HO differentiation between an inquiring in-country and outside of the UK (minus requests for entry clearance vs extensions)?
2. The Home Office seems to be outsourcing more and more of its functions (I believe another example is capita)

[kaffuk]

In my industry we call that extortion......

"customers who contact UK Visas and Immigration by email will be charged £5.48"....

[vinny]

Even more worrying is when their advice may be wrong.

[secret.simon]

A while back, I had been on an academic discussion about MPs and their communications. One of the topics discussed was the sheer volume of emails that they get, primarily as a campaign tool and also because it is free and easy to send. Some MPs' offices had come up with similar ideas; either requiring all inward correspondence to be by post/snail mail or responding to emails by snail mail (which precluded recipients from instantly hitting reply or forwarding it to a third party, such as a newspaper). The idea was that people will think a little more about the issue if they had to write an issue down on paper and stick a stamp on it, rather than forwarding somebody else's draft.

I would imagine that the Home Office is taking the same approach. You are more likely to think about an issue and explore resolving it in different ways if you will have to pay £5 for it rather than if it was a free email.

My gut feeling is that it is not an earning mechanism, but a volume management mechanism, though I wonder why such a non-round figure as "£5.48". Presumably the contract is denominated in a currency other than GBP.

Even more worrying is when their advice may be wrong.

Well, they are changing suppliers. It may be worth observing if the quality of advice improves.

[vinny]

Fury over £5.48 immigration email charge.
Privatising Britain’s Immigration Service: £5.48 To Send An Email.

[secret.simon]

Privatising Britain’s Immigration Service: £5.48 To Send An Email

I would be a bit cautious about this source, Vinny. The company that it keeps in its About page is somewhat concerning (and I say that in a very "Yes Minister" way).

[vinny]

Thanks for the warning!

[kaffuk]

I have been informed that the price of 5.48 is based on a cost per request of USD 7 (hence the weird .48).

All emails will be triaged from Sitel Bangalore office.