Charging for EEA family permits

[smalldog]

In China all applications for British visas now have to be made through "Visa Application Centres" (http://www.ukvac.cn) instead of directly to the embassy/consulate. These centres charge a service fee of 220 RMB on top of the visa fee. The Beijing centre tells me that this service fee applies to EEA family permits even though the permits are issued free of charge.

This seems wrong to me as the permits are supposed to be issued free of charge and there is no alternative to using the services of Visa Application Centre. Am I right in thinking this? Any ideas who I could complain to about the charge?

[John]

Personally I sympathise with you ... that is possibly a contravention of the wording of the EU regulations, or certainly their spirit.

However, be practical here. I have just used xe.com to convert the amount of money you mention to Pounds. The answer is less than £16. So I think you should either "grin and bear it", or maybe put in a complaint after you get to the UK?

Or put it another way, the real value to you of an EEA Family Permit far exceeds £16.

[smalldog]

I agree that it's not a large sum and do intend to grin and bear it. It's still rather cheeky though.

[Chess]

I agree that it's not a large sum and do intend to grin and bear it. It's still rather cheeky though.

small dog - nice cheeky name...

not many things come for free these days...

[Kayalami]

In China all applications for British visas now have to be made through "Visa Application Centres" (www.ukvac.cn) instead of directly to the embassy/consulate. These centres charge a service fee of 220 RMB on top of the visa fee.

The fee is charged by the service provider who legally are not the British Consular authorities. This approach assists in a smoother service provision by eliminating lengthy queues outside consular posts (there is also a security angle to this).

This seems wrong to me as the permits are supposed to be issued free of charge and there is no alternative to using the services of Visa Application Centre. Am I right in thinking this? Any ideas who I could complain to about the charge?

EEA applications still remain free. UK Visas working closely with the Home Office have developed the concept of said visa handling arrangements to improve overall service levels. I understand such are likewise in agreement (if only for courtesy) with the relevant country's protocol department. You an complain to the Entry Clearance Manager or to the European Courts to make a binding ruling on this - the former will fail and IMHO so will the latter (not to mention the prohibitive costs).

[sreeni]

this charge is very small for the amount of hassle the Visa office cuts out, i dont know abot other places but in india the Chennai office used to have huge queues that used to extend along the street and almost all the way back to the railway station :O but now there is hardly any queue.
Also they cut out uneccessary travel to a embassy if there is none local. They also examine your application and can tell you there and then if theres anything wrong with it and the chances of it succeeding, saving you the application fee being wasted if its unlikely

that 16 quid looks well worth it to me considering its just an indian meal and a drink for 1 person in the UK Just think of it as buying them a meal for helping you out

[bash_h]

Hi smalldog,

The Islamabad mission uses a courier which does something similar where they charge for all visa applications. I asked them how someone would go about getting the EEA family permit without having to pay anything and they said the couriers know that the EEA is a seperate procedure which is cost free.

Agree with Kayalami that the Visa App centre is probably used for a security angle, however the European judgement that they must be given free of charge is binding and non-negotiable. Have you double checked that this is the ONLY way of submitting the app for an EEA permit? If so, why dont you email the Embassy and make this point? See what they say? They are usually quite good at replying fast. Their email addy is consularmailbeijing@fco.gov.uk and I for one would be very interested to hear what their reply is, do let us know.

All the best