In
April 2016, the Government made proposals to increase Immigration
appeal fees by nearly five times what it is today. The purpose behind
this proposal is to make the Immigration Tribunal entirely
self-funded.
The
fees for an appeal on paper at the First Tier Tribunal is proposed to
increase from £80 to £490 and from £140 to £800 for an oral
hearing. There is also a proposal to introduce a fee of £455 for an
application to the First Tier Tribunal for permission to appeal to
the Upper Tribunal.
The
proposal also includes fees for appeals to the Upper Tribunal with a
fee of £350 for a permission application to the Upper Tribunal. If
the appeal hearing goes ahead after permission is granted then
another fee of £510 will be payable.
The
suggested advantages of this proposal is that the number of appeals
will decrease and the impact assessment assumes that there will be a
20% reduction in the number of appeals. However, many will be unable
to afford the fees to appeal and thereby lose a great opportunity to
battle their case. This would clearly not be in the interest of
justice.
Even
people appealing with an out of country right of appeal and who are
not even present at the hearing will have to pay the higher fees.
If
an appeal succeeds the Home Office will repay the appeal fee as is
currently the case.
If
you need a U.K
immigration lawyer and need assistance with any aspect of
UK immigration law whether from inside the U.K or from overseas,
contact Shalini V Bhargava of Aschfords Law in Harrow, London. We
also provide legal advice and assistance in respect of Family Law,
Wills & Probate, Litigation, Landlord & Tenant.
Please
contact us today on +44 (0) 7582932830 or visit our website on
www.aschfordslaw.com
