The fee waiver form lets eligible applicants request exemption from paying the British citizenship application fee due to financial hardship or low income.
Home Office Fee Waiver Application
What is a Fee Waiver Application?
The Home Office visa fee and Immigration Health Surcharge (NHS surcharge) are already high and not everyone is able to afford the fees to enable to apply for a visa in the UK. You can apply for a fee waiver application if you cannot afford to pay the fees. The Home Office will take into account your financial circumstances in order to decide whether you may be exempt from the Home Office fees, the HIS or both fees or in the part.
What are the eligibility requirements for fee waiver?
- You are a partner, parent or dependant child of someone who has a family visa or has permission to stay in the UK on the basis of their private life
- You obtained ‘Discretionary Leave’ or ‘Leave outside the Immigration Rules’ on human rights grounds where you were refused refugee status or humanitarian protection
- You have permission to stay in the UK because you’re a victim of modern slavery or human trafficking.
You can also apply for a fee waiver application in the UK if you cannot afford to pay the fee because you:
- Do not have a place to live in the UK and you cannot afford one
- Have a place to live but cannot afford essential living costs like food or heating
- Have a very low income and paying the fee would harm your child’s wellbeing
Can I include my any Dependants?
You can include your partner and children in your visa waiver application form if they’re applying to join or stay with you in the UK as your dependants.
Each family member will need to complete a separate visa application and pay the visa fee. Use this fee waiver request service if you cannot afford to pay all or some of the fees.
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Will I still be eligible if I am not the 5 year or 10 year route?
The following applications are among those that qualify for a fee waiver:
- FLR (M) route under five years and partner route under ten years.
- Private and family route (FLR)
- Applications for authorization to stay under the parent route for five and ten years.
- Requests for flexible leaves.
- Those who already have discretionary leave may extend it further.
- Victims of slavery or human trafficking.
- Domestic violence victims who are granted leave to remain or spousal entrance clearance.
What happens when the request for a fee waiver is approved?
If your request for a fee waiver is approved, you will have 10 working days to submit your request for an absence leave to use the fee waiver code. The code for the fee waiver will expire after ten working days.
The Home Office may grant a full fee waiver towards your visa application fees and/or towards the Immigration Health Surcharge. If you are granted a partial fee waiver you will need to pay the rest towards the fees in order to submit your application to the Home Office.
Can I apply if I already have leave to remain?
If you already have leave to remain under the 5 year or 10 year route, you will still be entitled to apply. However, the fee waiver application is not a visa.
How can you submit a fee waiver application form online?
Before submitting a request form for permission to remain, the fee waiver application request must file online.
What happens if I have applied and my visa is due to expire?
The Home Office will provided 10 days from the grant of your application being approved.
Can citizenship fees be waived in the UK?
Yes, in the UK, citizenship application fees can be waived for individuals under 18 who cannot afford to pay. To qualify, the applicant and their parent(s) or guardian(s) must demonstrate that paying the fee would prevent them from meeting essential living needs such as housing, food and utilities. The Home Office assesses affordability by examining the family’s income, expenses and any financial support received. Evidence like bank statements, payslips and utility bills is required to support the fee waiver application. If the child is under local authority care, the fee is automatically waived without needing a separate application. It’s important to apply for fee waiver and receive a decision before submitting the citizenship application. More details and fee waiver application process are available on the official UK government website.
How can we help?
Our friendly team of Immigration solicitors are experts in dealing with your application for a Fee waiver application. We will help you every step of the way and deal with any concerns or questions from the outset you may have or what you need to do for your application to the Home Office.
You can contact us to discuss your application for a Fee Waiver on 0203 7324736 or email us on: [email protected]
Our Professional Solicitor's are available in person at our offices or via the phone, Call us Today!
Our Fee Waiver Application FAQ's
You may be eligible if you can’t afford the fee, are on low income, receive certain benefits, or are at risk of becoming destitute. Evidence of financial circumstances is required.
Contact Us to find out you qualify for a Fee waiver exemption.
You can apply before submitting your visa or citizenship application and includes dependants to be exempted from paying the visa and NHS fees
If refused, you will need pay the appropriate visa application fees to proceed. Your application won’t be processed until the correct fee is paid or a successful waiver is granted.
Fee waiver applications usually take around 4 weeks to process. Times may vary depending on the volume of applications and the complexity of your case.