Joint Briefing on Visa Fees and the 10 Year Route: Bi-national couples, families and children trapped in a money making machine
This briefing, jointly prepared by Reunite Families UK, Migrant Voice, Haringey Migrant Support Centre (HMSC), Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and London (RAMFEL), Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit and Praxis, looks at significant barriers faced by those wishing to build their family life in the UK: extortionate visa fees, the Immigration Health Surcharge and the insecurity caused by the 10-year route to settlement.
Joint asks:
Fix the level of visa application fees at the cost of processing for all applications made by adults and they should be completely free for applications made by children.
Scrap the Immigration Health Surcharge with people and children on family and private life visas.
Introduce a fee waiver option for Indefinite Leave to Remain applications.
We endorse the recommendation made by the APPG on Migration and the APPG on Poverty on the need to cap every route to settlement at 5 years.
Remove all the so-called ‘reset the clock’ mechanisms of applicants on the 10-year route now. This should include couples and families moving from the 10-year route to the 5 year route as well as people on the 10-year route who might fall out of status for an application not made on time.
Visa renewals should be automatic - simple, cheap, and granted by default unless there is new and important information to be considered.