Student visa fee in the United Kingdom, UK, has been increased from £127 (N123,537) to £490 (N476,677). This represents a 286 percent increment.
Also, visit visa to the country for less than six months will now cost £115 (N111,878) as opposed to £15 (14,592).
The new changes according to the UK Home Office will take effect from Wednesday, October 4, 2023.
UK government has said the increments will enable it to pay for what it called vital services and also allow more funding to be prioritised for public sector pay rises.
It made this known in a statement, ‘New visa fees set to come into effect next month’ published on its website, on Friday, September 15, 2023.
In July 2023, UK announced a 15 percent increase in the cost of most work and visit visas, and an increase of at least 20 percent in the cost of priority visas, study visas and certificates of sponsorship.
“Income from fees charged plays a vital role in the Home Office’s ability to run a sustainable immigration and nationality system. Careful consideration is given when setting fees to help reduce the funding contribution from British taxpayers, whilst continuing to provide a service that remains attractive to those wishing to work in the UK and support broader prosperity for all,” a statement on the UK’s website reads.
The changes include fees for up to six months, two-, five- and 10-year visit visas.
Majority of fees for entry clearance and certain applications for leave to remain in the UK, including those for work and study were also increased.
In the same vein, fees for indefinite leave to enter and indefinite leave to remain were also increased together with convention travel document and stateless person’s travel document; health and care visa; fees in relation to certificates of sponsorship and confirmation of acceptance for studies; the in and out of country fee for the super-priority service and the out of country fee for the priority service.
It noted that the settlement priority service would reduce so it would be aligned with the cost of using the priority service. Applications to register and naturalize as a British citizen and the fee for the User Pays Visa Application service were also increased.
However, the statement noted that subject to parliamentary approval, the immigration and nationality fees would increase from Wednesday October 4, as well.
“Today’s changes do not include the planned increase to the Immigration Health Surcharge, which is scheduled to be introduced later in the Autumn,” the statement added.
Comments