Fees for appeals apply from December 2011
People appealing against immigration and asylum decisions will have to pay a fee from December 2011, under new rules brought in by the Ministry of Justice.The changes mean that anyone who wants to appeal a decision dated 19 December 2011 or later, in ‘most categories of visas and decisions’, will have to pay a fee. The fees are being introduced because the government feels that those who can afford to pay should contribute to the costs of running the system.
Appeals made for a written consideration will now cost £80 whilst those involving an oral hearing will cost £140. These fees have been set at a level intended to be affordable and it is expected that they will recover about 25% of the cost of running the appeals system.
Applicants who appeal decisions dated 19 December 2011 or later from outside the UK will be required to submit their appeals directly to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in Leicester and will no longer be able to send them to the visa application centre overseas that made the initial decision.
Full details of the Immigration and Appeals Tribunal can be found on the Ministry of Justice website. The full details include a list of people who are exempt from paying these fees.
Decisions made before the 19 December 2011 are unaffected and an appeal can be made to the visa section that made the initial decision without paying a fee.
A new online payment facility will be available shortly. This will allow applicants to make an appeal and payment online for decisions dated from 19 December 2011. Appellants must be able to pay using a MasterCard or a Visa credit or debit card or be submitting an appeal which does not require a fee to be paid.
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