Immigration Fees

Key stages for immigration applications

In general, all immigration (‘visa’) applications (known as leave to enter, leave to remain, further leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain/enter applications), and naturalisation and registration applications (applying for British citizenship for adults and children) will have the same key stages:

1. Preparing the application, including filling in an online application form, and securing the supporting documents.
2. Submitting the application online by paying the application fee and (usually) the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). Note: there may be some circumstances where an applicant can apply for a fee waiver. Those applying for indefinite leave to remain/enter will not have to pay the IHS. Naturalisation and registration application only require the application fee to be paid.
3. Booking a service and support centre appointment if applying in the UK, booking a Visa Application centre appointment if applying from outside the UK. These appointments can carry a fee.
4. Uploading scans of supporting documents to the application, or sending them to the Home Office through the post, or providing them to be scanned at a service and support centre.
5. Attending a service and support centre/visa application centre appointment (booked at stage 3) to submit biometric data (fingerprints and a face scan). Note: in some circumstances the Home Office will reuse previously submitted biometric data and applicants will not have to attend a service and support centre appointment. Applicants will be notified if this is the case via email, after stage 2 noted above.
6. Waiting for a decision from the Home Office. Note: sometimes applicants will be contacted by the Home Office whilst their application is outstanding requesting further information or documents.
7. The final decision from the Home Office will usually be emailed to the applicant/their legal representative. If the application has been successful those applying for leave to remain will be issued with Biometric Residence Permits, these will be received by post. Those applying for naturalisation will have to book and attend a citizenship ceremony held by the local council to receive their certificate of naturalisation. Children being registered as British will receive their certificate of registration through the post.
8. If the application has been refused there may be a right of appeal, administrative review, or reconsideration may be requested if an application for naturalisation or registration has been refused (this carries a further application and further fee).

Applications under the EU settlement Scheme, whether they be for pre-settled status or settled status have similar key stages to the above, however, there is no application fee of IHS to pay. In some circumstances, such as when an applicant does not have a valid identity document, or where they are making a certain application (eg, applications based on the Surinder Singh or Zambrano judgements), it is not possible to make the application online, in these circumstances a paper form must be requested from the Home Office and the application submitted by post. Also, if an applicant already holds a biometric document they would not have to attend a service and support centre appointment, they would simply have to upload a recent photo of themselves to the application.

Timescales

It can be very difficult to predict timescales for immigration applications. The Home Office will often include advertised timescales for certain types of application on their website, however, these would be for very straightforward applications and they are often not met. The Home Office will often have backlogs of applications which can result in extended waiting times. Also, if your case is complex, or there are issues such as criminal convictions, or there has been previous breaches of immigration laws, you should expect a longer wait. In our experience a straightforward in country application for further leave to remain can take between 8 weeks and 3 months. A more complex application with some issues, can take between 3 to 6 months, although can occasionally take longer. Naturalisation and registration applications will usually be resolved within 3 months. EU Settlement Scheme applications appear to be in a backlog at the moment, and we are finding that no matter how straightforward they are, applicants are experiencing a lengthy wait for decisions. The fastest decisions appear to take around 3 months, but be prepared for a longer wait.

Applications for indefinite leave to remain made on the basis that an applicant has been a victim of domestic violence tend to be made quite quickly. An applicant can expect a decision within 3 months at the very most, but in general, most domestic violence decisions are received within a few weeks of submission.

It should be noted that immigration laws change frequently and there will be cases at the Immigration tribunals as well as the higher courts (known as ‘case law’) which mean decisions on certain applications have to be held back by the Home Office until they have updated their policy to deal with them or appealed against a court’s decision they don’t like. We will advise you if we think that there is any case law that will mean a longer wait for a decision on your application.

If you have an immigration issue you need assistance with and you do not see it listed below, please call us and we will advise you whether we can help and quote you a fee.

If you want to claim asylum or have a matter involving an asylum application we would advise you to contact a firm which has a Legal Aid contract. If you are on a low income you may be able to secure representation without having to pay a fee. We do not have a Legal Aid contract and are willing to consider representing clients with asylum matters; however, we would have to be satisfied that you do not qualify for Legal Aid before going ahead. Asylum cases are complex and require a lot of work from us, therefore our fees are likely to be relatively high for this type of work.