What is a Fee Waiver Application to the Home Office?
At My Legal Services, we continue to help our clients to apply for a fee waiver application online to the Home Office. Over the years the Home Office have continued to increase the Immigration Health Surcharge, known as the NHS charge from £500 per year to £624 per year. The NHS charge is a separate application fee from the Home Office visa application fee, which currently costs £1,033 per applicant.
Who is entitled to apply?
You are entitled to apply for a fee waiver application online if you cannot afford to pay the compulsory visa application fees to the Home Office, including the NHS charge. You will be required to provide evidence of your circumstances as to why you cannot pay the Home Office visa application fees. The Home Office will consider your financial circumstances and if your application for a fee waiver application is successful, your fees will be waived.
A fee waiver may be granted if the applicant is assessed and if it is found that any of the following apply:
- They are not able to pay the fee
- They are destitute
- They are at risk of imminent destitution
- Their income is not sufficient to meet a child’s particular and additional needs
- They are faced with exceptional financial circumstances
Which Visa Type or Applications Does the Fee Waiver Application apply?
The fee waiver applies to the following types of application:
- Application for overstayers
- Applications for leave to remain under the 5-year partner route from applicants who are not required to meet the minimum income threshold because their sponsor is in receipt of one or more specified benefits and who instead must demonstrate that their sponsor can provide adequate maintenance.
- Applications for leave to remain under the 5-year parent route.
- Applications for leave to remain under the 10-year partner, parent or private life route, where the applicant claims that refusal of that application for leave to remain would breach their rights (or the rights of other specified persons) under ECHR Article 8 (the right to respect for private and family life).
- Applications for leave to remain on the basis of other ECHR rights.
- Applications for further leave to remain from applicants granted discretionary leave (DL) following refusal of asylum or humanitarian protection, where the applicant claims that refusal to grant further leave to remain would breach their ECHR rights.
- Applications for further DL from victims of trafficking or slavery who have had a positive conclusive grounds decision from a competent authority of the national referral mechanism (NRM), have already accrued 30 months’ DL and are seeking to extend it for reasons related to trafficking or slavery.
If you are able to pay your own application fees, but are not able to pay towards any of your dependants, you are still entitled to apply to the Home Office for a fee waiver of the Immigration Health Surcharge only and not the main application fee, if the main applicant can only afford one of the two waiver fees.
What evidence is required to submit the application?
Fee waiver requests are made online, before the application for permission to remain is made. The Home Office caseworker will need to see evidence/information in respect of the following:
- Applicant’s income
- Accommodation details and type
- Amount of rent/mortgage or any contributions
- Outgoings such as food, clothes and utility bills.
- Any other evidence to support their claim or if they are destitute and the needs of children
It is therefore imperative that applicants do not provide false or incomplete information for a fee waiver as this will have an adverse effect not only on the application for a fee waiver, but also the application for leave to remain in the UK. If an applicant fails to disclose their financial circumstances in full, or who provide false information, they may have their current or future applications for leave to enter or remain refused.
Find out if you qualify for a Fee waiver application?
Talk to our experts and get the right advice first time, every time on: 02037324736.
Will I always be exempted in full?
The Home Office may decide to exempt your application in full or give a partial fee waiver instead. The caseworker will consider all your circumstances and assess whether you should be given full or partial fee waiver towards the fees. Where an applicant can pay the whole of the immigration fee, or only part of the Immigration Health Surcharge, the immigration fee will be required, and the exemption will be applied to the Immigration Health Surcharge. If the applicant is unable to pay the fee or the IHS both are to be waived.
After submission of my application, what is the next stage?
Your caseworker is required to take into account all of your circumstances, including the best interest of any children when a fee waiver request is made. If your application is granted or successful, this means the whole the amount which includes the Home Office visa application fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge combined.
If an applicant is granted a fee waiver they will be issued with a Unique Reference Number to be used when applying for LTR online to make a free application. This application must be submitted within 10 working days of the date of the decision and they must then make an biometric appointment. Failure to do this could result in the URN no longer being valid and a new fees waiver application may be required.
What happens if my fees waiver application is refused?
The status of an applicant when their application for a fee waiver is refused depends on whether the applicant had valid leave at the time of the application.
- Applicants who had valid leave at the time of the application will be advised that they do not qualify for a fee waiver and be given ten working days to submit additional evidence that demonstrates they qualify for a fee waiver. If the new evidence submitted satisfies the caseworker that they are eligible for a fee waiver, their application will be granted and they will be given another ten working days to submit the application for leave to remain and retain their Section 3C status under the 1971 Act.
- If the new evidence does not satisfy the caseworker that they are eligible for a fee waiver, their application will be refused and they will be given ten working days to submit an application for leave to remain and pay the application fee. If they do not do so before their leave expires, they will become overstayers.
- If the applicant had no valid leave at the date of application, their application will simply be rejected as invalid. They will need to submit a new application with the fee or a new application for a fee waiver.
Fee Waiver Application to the Home Office: How Our Expert Immigration Solicitors Can Help?
Our UK immigration and visa solicitors regularly assist with fees waiver applications to the Home Office and have a extreme high success rate. We pride ourselves on being approachable and proactive in understanding and meeting our clients needs. We are a highly driven team of immigration solicitors , dedicated to providing clear and reliable immigration advice as part of a professional and friendly service.
So if you are looking for help with your Fee Waiver Application to the Home Office, we will love to help so we can assess your case and arrange your legal consultation to discuss your Fee waiver application to the Home Office.
Contact our London immigration solicitors on 02037324736 or complete our contact form.