UK Visa Fees, 2020

[theoldgit]

The new visa fees have been published for 2020, it's good to note that there's no price increase, but of course applicants from Thailand will still need to pay in USD at a rate set by the UKVI. The NHS Surcharge was increased in the Budget.

 

visa-regulations-revised-table/home-office-immigration-and-nationality-fees-6-april-2020

 

They have also updated the Transparency Data to show the estimated cost of processing applications

 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/876863/Updated_HAC_Table_for_6th_April_2020_Changes.ods

 

 

[durhamboy]

Thanks for this OG. Whilst the cost of a visa remains unchanged the NHS Surcharge rise is a massive hike from £400 p.a. to £624 p.a. i.e. a rise of 56%. That means that the NHS Surcharge is now more expensive than Further Leave to Remain i.e. FLR = £1033, NHS Surcharge = £1560 (51% higher!). More straws on the camel's back!

[theoldgit]

44 minutes ago, durhamboy said:

Thanks for this OG. Whilst the cost of a visa remains unchanged the NHS Surcharge rise is a massive hike from £400 p.a. to £624 p.a. i.e. a rise of 56%. That means that the NHS Surcharge is now more expensive than Further Leave to Remain i.e. FLR = £1033, NHS Surcharge = £1560 (51% higher!). More straws on the camel's back!

 

Yes, the NHS Surcharge was sneaked in during the budget, rather like unpopular policies and reports that are sneaked through when a major news story breaks.
Of course the Surcharge was only recently doubled, and they get away with it becaus it's popular amongst Daily Mail readers, despite the fact that those paying income tax and making NI contributions in their own right are also liable - rant over. 

[durhamboy]

Yes, when the NHS Surcharge was introduced in April 2015 it was only £200 p.a. So in 5 years it has more than tripled! Also, as you say, people subject to immigration control and who are working also pay NICs and in effect they are double paying.

 

The only way around it is to pass Life in the UK but seeing as most Brits couldn't pass it then it is a tall order for a lot of immigrants. My rant over!

[durhamboy]

Scenario - young person goes to Thailand and meets the love of their life and decides to marry - the Thai spouse is, say, 21 years old.

 

No matter how hard the Thai spouse tries he/she cannot pass Life in the UK test.

 

He/she will be entitled to Indefinite Leave to Remain when they reach 65 years of age.

 

At today's prices the total visa cost would be :-

 

Initial Settlement Visa + NHS Surcharge £3083

16 Further Leave to Remain renewals + NHS Surcharges £1033 + £1560 = £2593 x 16 = £41488

ILR fee = £2389

 

Total cost = £46960

 

This excludes costs of TB test, English tests, BRP fees, Citizenship fee (£1330), uk passport fee etc. It also excludes any fee increases over the 40+ year period.

 

So say goodbye to £50 grand!

[puchooay]

18 minutes ago, durhamboy said:

Scenario - young person goes to Thailand and meets the love of their life and decides to marry - the Thai spouse is, say, 21 years old.

 

No matter how hard the Thai spouse tries he/she cannot pass Life in the UK test.

 

He/she will be entitled to Indefinite Leave to Remain when they reach 65 years of age.

 

At today's prices the total visa cost would be :-

 

Initial Settlement Visa + NHS Surcharge £3083

16 Further Leave to Remain renewals + NHS Surcharges £1033 + £1560 = £2593 x 16 = £41488

ILR fee = £2389

 

Total cost = £46960

 

This excludes costs of TB test, English tests, BRP fees, Citizenship fee (£1330), uk passport fee etc. It also excludes any fee increases over the 40+ year period.

 

So say goodbye to £50 grand!

 I read somewhere that only B1 SELT was required for ILR. I could be wrong. Anyone who has been living in UK for the 5 years leading up to a ILR application should be able to pass this.

 

Why are you also mentioning passport fees and citizenship fees? Isn't that the stage after ILR?

Edited April 7, 2020 by puchooay

[puchooay]

On 4/6/2020 at 10:56 AM, theoldgit said:

 

Yes, the NHS Surcharge was sneaked in during the budget, rather like unpopular policies and reports that are sneaked through when a major news story breaks.
Of course the Surcharge was only recently doubled, and they get away with it becaus it's popular amongst Daily Mail readers, despite the fact that those paying income tax and making NI contributions in their own right are also liable - rant over. 

Whilst I agree with your sentiments it could be worse. My parents emigrated to Oz in 2004. The requirement was for them to pay 3000 Oz dollars a year for medical insurance. This only covered them for half of any hospital fees.

 

At least NI contributions go towards a pension too.

[durhamboy]

Puchooay, sorry but you are incorrect. A LITUK pass is mandatory for ILR up to the age of 65.

 

When you say "anyone ......should be able to pass this" I assume that you are talking about the B1 English Test. It is certainly not the case that anyone can pass LITUK.

 

I mentioned the passport and citizenship fee as a footnote because, as you say, they are after the ILR stage.

[durhamboy]

2 minutes ago, puchooay said:

Whilst I agree with your sentiments it could be worse. My parents emigrated to Oz in 2004. The requirement was for them to pay 3000 Oz dollars a year for medical insurance. This only covered them for half of any hospital fees.

 

At least NI contributions go towards a pension too.

Again I think you're wrong. I don't think that the NHS Surcharges go towards a pension. 

 

Yes, if you look at the NHS Surcharge in isolation then £624 p.a. is not bad when compared to buying health insurance in other countries. The trouble is that it is coupled with already punitive visa fees so it is the total cost that people are concerned about. I wonder how much your parents paid for their Oz visa?

[puchooay]

1 hour ago, durhamboy said:

Again I think you're wrong. I don't think that the NHS Surcharges go towards a pension. 

 

Yes, if you look at the NHS Surcharge in isolation then £624 p.a. is not bad when compared to buying health insurance in other countries. The trouble is that it is coupled with already punitive visa fees so it is the total cost that people are concerned about. I wonder how much your parents paid for their Oz visa?

I said NI contributions go towards pension. Not NHS surcharge.

 

I'm not sure how much my parents paid for their visa but I do know the financial requirements far outweighed  those for UK.

 

I'm not condoning the fees of UKVI. I am going through the initial phase of settlement with my wife as we speak. I'm just trying to see positives.

 

 

[durhamboy]

A few things Puchooay :-

 

1. Yes NI contributions do go to towards getting a pension. I think you need at least 10 years contributions to qualify for a reduced pension - 35 years of contributions for a full state pension I think. But that is the same for everyone living and working in the UK. The NHS Surcharge is imposed just on immigrants plus they have to pay NICs if they work.

 

2. Also financial requirements and the cost of visas are 2 separate things. You don't get a reduced visa fee for having a lower income.

 

3. I wish you good luck with the settlement visa for your wife. It's good that you are trying to see the positives. Let me know if you find any because in my honest opinion it is a draconian system that has 2 main objectives. Firstly, keep immigration down and, secondly, make exorbitant amounts of money from those that manage to go through all the many hoops. You make a comparison with the Oz visa system in 2004. At that time the cost of a UK settlement visa was around £250 - no English test, no LITUK, no TB etc. Just a one time payment of £250 and after 2 or 3 years you got ILR (no further payment I believe) and you qualified for Citizenship (small fee for Citizenship c£300 I think). So in my example above had the same application been made in 2004 the cost would be £250 instead of the £46,960 it would be today (188 times more!). So, again, good luck with finding positives because I can't see any.

[samsensam]

4 hours ago, durhamboy said:

Scenario - young person goes to Thailand and meets the love of their life and decides to marry - the Thai spouse is, say, 21 years old.

 

No matter how hard the Thai spouse tries he/she cannot pass Life in the UK test.

 

He/she will be entitled to Indefinite Leave to Remain when they reach 65 years of age.

 

At today's prices the total visa cost would be :-

 

Initial Settlement Visa + NHS Surcharge £3083

16 Further Leave to Remain renewals + NHS Surcharges £1033 + £1560 = £2593 x 16 = £41488

ILR fee = £2389

 

Total cost = £46960

 

This excludes costs of TB test, English tests, BRP fees, Citizenship fee (£1330), uk passport fee etc. It also excludes any fee increases over the 40+ year period.

 

So say goodbye to £50 grand!

 

works out at an average of just over 1100GBP per year, to live in one of the richest economies in the world, with a tolerant culture, wonderful historic past, beautiful and accessible nature, not to mention democracy, the rule of law, freedom of speech and life opportunities most citizens of thailand can only dream about. i'd say it's an absolute bargain

[puchooay]

35 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 

works out at an average of just over 1100GBP per year, to live in one of the richest economies in the world, with a tolerant culture, wonderful historic past, beautiful and accessible nature, not to mention democracy, the rule of law, freedom of speech and life opportunities most citizens of thailand can only dream about. i'd say it's an absolute bargain

That is one positive I guess. The way Thai immigration rules are going, 1100 pounds a year could end up cheap compared to staying in Thailand. Also there is the prospect of indefinite stay. I lived in Thailand for 21 years and was no closer to that then when I started.

 

Of course the 50 grand is a worse case scenario for ILR in UK also.

[durhamboy]

Guys, a spouse visa in Thailand costs THB 1,900 p.a. i.e. less than 50 quid compared to £1100 p.a. in the UK!

 

How on earth you think that the UK is a bargain completely mystifies me. Puchooay, you also mention "The way Thai immigration rules are going............" What are you talking about? Thai immigration rules for allowing spouses to stay in Thailand are very easy and affordable and have been for many years. What they don't give out so easily is Permanent Residence but most people live quite happily with that. What you need to look at is the way UK immigration rules are going (and have gone for the last 15 years).

[puchooay]

2 hours ago, durhamboy said:

Guys, a spouse visa in Thailand costs THB 1,900 p.a. i.e. less than 50 quid compared to £1100 p.a. in the UK!

 

How on earth you think that the UK is a bargain completely mystifies me. Puchooay, you also mention "The way Thai immigration rules are going............" What are you talking about? Thai immigration rules for allowing spouses to stay in Thailand are very easy and affordable and have been for many years. What they don't give out so easily is Permanent Residence but most people live quite happily with that. What you need to look at is the way UK immigration rules are going (and have gone for the last 15 years).

Money in the bank that can't be withdrawn? Health insurance requirements? All recent changes for stays based on retirement. 

 

I know guys who are having to spend 100k plus Thai baht on health insurance per year.

 

Don't you think these requirements are likely to be across the board at sometime?

 

 

[durhamboy]

I think that you are talking about the 800k baht that you need to have in a bank account for a Thai spouse visa. That's about £20k so a lot less than the £62,500 you need in the UK if you are relying on savings for a UK visa. I have heard (though never done it) that you can quite easily get access to your money. You certainly do not lose it. Unless things have changed in Thailand, I heard that you only needed the 800k in a bank account for 1 day and you could even borrow that money to do it. With the UK system you can't really spend the £62,500 because you will need it next time you renew the visa.

 

Yes you have a point about health insurance. You get that with the UK NHS Surcharge (you did before the surcharge was introduced anyway) but you have to get your own in Thailand. I believe it's not compulsory but they may be making it mandatory soon. Of course you really should not live in Thailand without health insurance. The 100k plus THB premium you mentioned seems quite steep - underlying health issues maybe? Half that amount I think would be the norm.

 

What I think may happen (and this is only just my opinion) is that as the financial requirements for the UK spouse visa (i.e. income of £18,600 p.a. and/or savings of £62,500) haven't changed for a number of years I expect them to be raised in the near future. One think HMG might point out in its infinite wisdom is that people will need to have more income/savings to pay for the bloody visas!

[puchooay]

55 minutes ago, durhamboy said:

I think that you are talking about the 800k baht that you need to have in a bank account for a Thai spouse visa. That's about £20k so a lot less than the £62,500 you need in the UK if you are relying on savings for a UK visa. I have heard (though never done it) that you can quite easily get access to your money. You certainly do not lose it. Unless things have changed in Thailand, I heard that you only needed the 800k in a bank account for 1 day and you could even borrow that money to do it. With the UK system you can't really spend the £62,500 because you will need it next time you renew the visa.

 

Yes you have a point about health insurance. You get that with the UK NHS Surcharge (you did before the surcharge was introduced anyway) but you have to get your own in Thailand. I believe it's not compulsory but they may be making it mandatory soon. Of course you really should not live in Thailand without health insurance. The 100k plus THB premium you mentioned seems quite steep - underlying health issues maybe? Half that amount I think would be the norm.

 

What I think may happen (and this is only just my opinion) is that as the financial requirements for the UK spouse visa (i.e. income of £18,600 p.a. and/or savings of £62,500) haven't changed for a number of years I expect them to be raised in the near future. One think HMG might point out in its infinite wisdom is that people will need to have more income/savings to pay for the bloody visas!

Sadly, you are woefully unaware of the current requirements for extensions of stay in Thailand.

 

The current requirements for a retirement extension needs 800k in the bank for 2 months prior to application and 3 months after. The balance in the bank cannot ever fall below 400k.

 

That is 10K GBP that can never be spent. The health insurance required also has restrictions placed by Thai immigration. One of them being 40k Thai baht out patient cover. The other being the insurance company must be approved by immigration.

 

These are the rules for retirement but it could only be a matter of time before it is across the board.

 

I did mention in a previous post that you were using a worst case scenario with the 50k GBP amount. For perspective we should also look at the best case scenario too.

 

Thai lady 21 years old. Moves to UK. Gets FLR followed by ILR. That is £8065. She stays until she is 65, the age you used, so has only spent £183.295 a year. No further need to speak to immigration after ILR is issued. No 90 day reports, no TM28 or TM30, no need to apply for a re entry permit when travelling, no need to start application again if return within 2 years, no need to leave any money in the bank, no need for health insurance and no more fees.

 

I know which hoops I would rather jump through. You asked me to show you the bright points. There you go.

[couchpotato]

22 minutes ago, puchooay said:

Sadly, you are woefully unaware of the current requirements for extensions of stay in Thailand.

 

The current requirements for a retirement extension needs 800k in the bank for 2 months prior to application and 3 months after. The balance in the bank cannot ever fall below 400k.

 

That is 10K GBP that can never be spent. The health insurance required also has restrictions placed by Thai immigration. One of them being 40k Thai baht out patient cover. The other being the insurance company must be approved by immigration.

 

These are the rules for retirement but it could only be a matter of time before it is across the board.

 

I did mention in a previous post that you were using a worst case scenario with the 50k GBP amount. For perspective we should also look at the best case scenario too.

 

Thai lady 21 years old. Moves to UK. Gets FLR followed by ILR. That is £8065. She stays until she is 65, the age you used, so has only spent £183.295 a year. No further need to speak to immigration after ILR is issued. No 90 day reports, no TM28 or TM30, no need to apply for a re entry permit when travelling, no need to start application again if return within 2 years, no need to leave any money in the bank, no need for health insurance and no more fees.

 

I know which hoops I would rather jump through. You asked me to show you the bright points. There you go.

Sadly you are also unaware of current requirements.

You are correct on the 800k seasoning and 400k that can't be touched.

But there is NO requirement for Health Insurance on a Retirement Extension (or a Marriage Extension for that matter). You are getting mixed up with the O-A requirements.

[puchooay]

2 hours ago, couchpotato said:

Sadly you are also unaware of current requirements.

You are correct on the 800k seasoning and 400k that can't be touched.

But there is NO requirement for Health Insurance on a Retirement Extension (or a Marriage Extension for that matter). You are getting mixed up with the O-A requirements.

I am aware of the difference between Non O and Non OA. I am also aware of immigration misinterpreting these rules too. Asking for insurance for a NonO extension. That is why I used phrases such as "the way they are going" and "maybe across the board". I can't see it being long before mandatory insurance will be required for all.

[theoldgit]

This topic is to advise members of the fees for UK Visa for 2020, and is for information only.

 

As it's now wondering off topic I'm going to close it.