Home Office Fees 2020/21: Immigration and Nationality Charges

1. ILR

Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) Fees 2020/21

There will be no increase in the Home Office indefinite leave to remain (ILR) application fees effective from Jan 31, 2021. Accordingly, the ILR fees will remain at £2,389. Please note, the ILR fees are applicable for all types of indefinite leave to remain applications. For instance, the indefinite leave to remain (ILR) Fees for PBS Tier 1 investor, Tier 1 Entrepreneur or Settlement under the Family Route are same i.e. £2,389 per application.

Same Day Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) Fees 2020/21

The Home Office Fees for the same day (24 hours) processing of Indefinite leave to remain (ILR) or no time limit (NTL) applications are £3,189/- i.e. application fees £2,389/- plus the cost of super-priority visa service £800.

2. Leave to Remain

Home Office Leave to Remain Fees 2020/21

There will be no change in the leave to remain fees from Jan 31, 2021. Accordingly, the leave to remain application fees will remain at £1,033. Moreover, the leave to remain fees with priority (5-day) and same day super-priority service are £1,533 and £1,833/-, respectively.

Please note, the leave to remain application charges of £1,033 are not applicable for all types of switching and extension applications. For instance, the leave to remain fees for Tier 1 Investor and Entrepreneur are £1,623 and £1,277, respectively. However, the leave to remain fees for spouse visa application are £1,033.

Exceptional Assurance

A foreign national in the UK needs to take all necessary steps to leave if it is possible to do so or apply to regularise stay. If a person intends to leave the UK but is not able to do so due to Covid-19 and the leave to remain is expiring between 1 January 2021 and 28 February 2021 then can request additional time to stay, which is known as ‘exceptional assurance’. Although, there is no Home Office fee for the exceptional assurance, i.e. leave to remain (extension), due to coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions, however, a person needs to attach evidence to show: why they are not able to leave the UK?

ILR and Leave to Remain Fees 2020/21

3. Students

Home Office Student Visa Fees 2020/21

Home Office Fees for student (main applicant and dependants) and child student leave to remain and extension visa will remain at £475. The visa fees for students with 5-day priority and same-day premium service will also remain at £975 and £1,275, respectively.

4. Citizenship

British Citizenship Fees 2020/21

There will be no increase in the British citizenship fees from Jan 31, 2021. The British Citizenship Fees for adults will remain at £1,206, inclusive of £80 charges for Citizenship Ceremony. If an application is unsuccessful or withdrawn, then the British Citizenship fees are refunded after deducting £25 administrative charges.

Child Registration Fees 2020/21

Indeed, despite all the criticism and legal hearing, the British Citizenship Fees after Jan 31, 2021, for Child Registration will remain at £1,012. If a minor turn eighteen during the application process, then needs to pay £80 fees for British citizenship ceremony at the point of decision.

The Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens (PRCBC) argues the “exorbitant” £1,012 registration fee, for an application which costs the Home Office just £372 to process, is unlawfully high.
The Guardian

British Overseas Citizens

After Jan 31, 2021, the nationality registration fee for British overseas citizens will remain at £901. The British nationality registration charges for children will continue to remain at £810.

UK Naturalisation Fees 2020/21

There will be no increase in the British Naturalisation Fees from Jan 31, 2021. Accordingly, the British Naturalisation fees will remain at £1,330, inclusive of the citizenship ceremony fee of £80. The Naturalisation fees for British overseas territory citizens will remain at £1,000. If an application is unsuccessful or withdrawn, then Home Office refunds the Naturalisation Fees after deducting £25 administrative charges.

Naturalisation and British Citizenship Fees 2020/21

5. Work

Home Office Work Visa Fees 2020/21

There will be no changes in the Home Office work visa fees from Jan 31, 2021.

Please note, the innovator, start-up, and global talent visa has replaced the Tier 1 Entrepreneur, Graduate Entrepreneur and Tier 1 Exceptional Talent, respectively. Moreover, Skilled Worker, Intra Company Transfer, T2 Sportsperson, T2 Minister of Religion and T5 Temporary Worker visa has replaced the Tier 2 General, Tier 2 Intra-company Transfer (ICT), Tier 2 Sportsperson, Tier 2 Minister of Religion and Tier 5 Temporary Worker visa, respectively.

A Council of Europe Social Charter (CESC) discount of £55 applies for main applicants under the following routes:

1. Innovator
2. Start-up
3. Global Talent initial application
4. Global Talent subsequent application
5. Tier 1 Entrepreneur
6. Skilled Worker
7. Intra-Company Transfer, T2 Sportsperson & T2 Minister of Religion
8. Intra-Company Transfer – Graduate Trainee
9. T5 (Temporary Worker)

Home Office Work Visa Fees UK 2020/21

6. Services and Other Visas

Home Office Premium Services Fees 2020/21

From Jan 31, 2021, there will be no increase in the Home Office Fees for optional premium and priority services from inside the UK. Therefore, the Home Office fees for 5-day priority and 24-hour super priority (premium service) for expediting leave to remain and ILR applications will remain at £500 and £800, respectively. Please note, the priority and premium services are only recommended for a straightforward application and do not affect the outcome of the decision.

Home Office Premium Service Fees 2020/21

*Please note: Administrative Officer, Executive Officer and Higher Executive Officer are Civil Service staff grades

Home Office Other Visas and Services Fee 2020/21

7. Sponsorship

Home Office Fees for Sponsorship

There will be no increase in the Home Office Fees for Sponsorship from Jan 31, 2021. The Home Office Fees for Premium Sponsor Service for large, small and student sponsors, will remain at £25K, £8K and £8K, respectively. Applicants can expedite the processing of sponsor licence applications by paying £500 for the Priority Service.

Home Office Fees for Sponsorship 2020/21

8. Hidden Cost

Home Office Fees 2021 and the Hidden Cost

Although, there are no hidden charges, but there is a stark difference between the Home Office Fees and administrative cost of application processing. For instance, the Home Office charges an indefinite leave to remain fee of £2,389, but the administrative cost of processing an ILR application is only £243. Therefore, Home Office is facing severe criticism and court cases to rationalize the end-user fee structure. Nevertheless, to escape the public censure, the HM’s Government decided not to increase the Immigration and Nationality charges in 2019, 2020 and from Jan 31, 2021.

Home Office makes £500m from immigration fees

The Times

ILR, Naturalisation, British Citizenship Fees Vs. Actual Cost

There is a huge disparity between the Home Office Fees and actual cost of processing ILR, Naturalisation and British Citizenship Registration applications. Perhaps, depending on the type of the application, the end user charges are 217.74% to 983.13% higher than the actual cost to process an application. Nevertheless, those applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) applications bear the brunt. Quite clearly, the Home Office ILR Fees (£2,389) are ten times (983.13%) higher than the actual cost of processing (£243). Therefore, on each ILR application, the Home Office makes a hefty margin of £2,146.

The Secretary of State has said that only £372 of that fee is attributed to the administrative cost of processing the application
Bailii.org

Home Office Fees Vs Actual Cost

Cost Per Migration Decision (in-country and overseas)

The average cost per migration decision has decreased from £217 (2010) to £155 in 2019. However, the Home Office fees have increased considerably. For instance, the indefinite leave to remain (ILR), British Citizenship (Nationality Registration Adult) and Naturalisation application fees have increased from £900 (ILR Postal), £580 and £780 in 2010 to £2,389, £1,126, and £1,250 in 2021, respectively.

Home Office Cost Per Decision (CPD)