UKBA To Charge For EEA Applications

[John]

In my opinion just a question of time before UKBA lose yet another case.

My comment continues to be, pay the fee, get the desired document, ask for the fee back, then when they refuse, sue in the Small Claims Court!

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

It would be interesting to see if one could travel on a residence certificate, a document certifying permanent residence. I suspect one would be denied boarding, ergo it is not an equivalent document to a passport. (I've left out residence cards and permanent residence cards as they are generally stuck into a passport).

[wiggsy]

i wonder... anyone remember a few years back...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8707355.stm

Identity cards were priced at £30... THAT Could be a comparitive document?... but the price just doesnt recon... even with official gov inflation figures factored in...

[vinny]

Perhaps the same fate awaits.

[fysicus]

I have now (via my own MP) received a reply from Mark Harper MP, the minister for immigration, who writes that advice from the European Commission had been obtained before proposing the £55 fee.
As similar documents he mentions the UK passport (cost £72.50) and the British Nationality Status Letter (cost £88.00).

Cute. The European Commission does not have the same view of the "advice". They pretty much told the UK that they should not charge more than a comparable domestic document.

I have now received an explicit refusal, and this includes as the official position of the Home Office:

both the UK passport and the British Nationality Status Letter are ‘similar’ documents for the purpose of Article 25(2) of Directive 2004/38/EC

[Jambo]

According to this FOI, the HO did seek the EC view on the charges.

[fysicus]

Thank you Jambo, that is extremely helpful.

In assessing compliance with EU law of the UK plans to introduce charges which are identical with charges for a UK adult passport, it is fundamental to examine whether the UK adult passports are the appropriate comparator and that there are no other, better, documents.
If that is not the case, the UK policy on passport charges may have been set up to reflect certain aspects which are relevant for passports but may not be relevant for residence documents issued under Directive 2004/38/EC - such as that passports may be issued by the UK embassies abroad, they have more security features, they must be in a harmonised format, they are more voluminous, they have a different period of validity, they are travel documents accepted by all countries or that the charges are set in such a way that the whole service is more or less self-financing.
Compliance of your plans with EU law can be assessed only on the basis of proper justification and in-depth analysis addressing the above issues.

It might be a good idea for a further FOI request to find out about the proper justification and in-depth analysis.

[aliikazim]

hi everbody..home office charge me for EEA1 and EEA2 application twice.i call them and they give me an email address charging.permits@ukba.gsi.gov.uk..i send them an email complain about my fees but they didnot reply...its almost 10 days ago..is there any number or email address to which i contact and they refund my extra fee? also is it possible that home office refund extra fees in any case or not?
i also send them an email which they give on thier website for complaints but still no reply...
i will be very thankful to you if you give me a proper way...wait for reply

[Jambo]

hi everbody..home office charge me for EEA1 and EEA2 application twice.i call them and they give me an email address charging.permits@ukba.gsi.gov.uk..i send them an email complain about my fees but they didnot reply...its almost 10 days ago..is there any number or email address to which i contact and they refund my extra fee? also is it possible that home office refund extra fees in any case or not?
i also send them an email which they give on thier website for complaints but still no reply...
i will be very thankful to you if you give me a proper way...wait for reply

If you used debit/credit card, you can call the card issuer and ask to have the duplicate charge refunded.

[Imshzd]

hi everbody..home office charge me for EEA1 and EEA2 application twice.i call them and they give me an email address charging.permits@ukba.gsi.gov.uk..i send them an email complain about my fees but they didnot reply...its almost 10 days ago..is there any number or email address to which i contact and they refund my extra fee? also is it possible that home office refund extra fees in any case or not?
i also send them an email which they give on thier website for complaints but still no reply...
i will be very thankful to you if you give me a proper way...wait for reply

If HO charged twice then don't worry,they will refund you.

Once you sent an e mail then HO will investigate this matter.

So wait,hopefully within couple of weeks your query will be solved.

[euroguys]

I have now (via my own MP) received a reply from Mark Harper MP, the minister for immigration, who writes that advice from the European Commission had been obtained before proposing the £55 fee.
As similar documents he mentions the UK passport (cost £72.50) and the British Nationality Status Letter (cost £88.00).

Cute. The European Commission does not have the same view of the "advice". They pretty much told the UK that they should not charge more than a comparable domestic document.

I have now received an explicit refusal, and this includes as the official position of the Home Office:

both the UK passport and the British Nationality Status Letter are ‘similar’ documents for the purpose of Article 25(2) of Directive 2004/38/EC

If they are claiming equivalence to a passport it could be argued that a family members residence card from another European country should therefor be included in the list of documents proving the right to work , the same as an E.U. National

I guess it wont be to long now before some one who paid in July and has just received there residency challenges it

[Graham Weifang]

Has any one challenged the £55.00 cost yet?

Or have they just sucked up to it, and paid.

I guess, in the full picture of things, £55.00 isn't that much.

But it all adds up.

GW

[euroguys]

Cant wait once all else is done hope some one beats me to it

[Graham Weifang]

When were the first "£55.00" applicants charged?

Some time middle 2013 I guess.

GW

[kabuki]

I have to reapply soon as my current RC is set to expire in March 2015. I have no problem paying a fee, but it better mean a better and quicker service, something the UK isn't known for. The Netherlands may have a small fee (not sure if they do but others have mentioned it), but you usually get your RC within 2-4 weeks, not at the end of 6 months. However, I have no confidence that this fee will quicken processing times.

This is the best part:

You don’t need a residence card to live in the UK, but it can:

help you re-enter the country more quickly and easily if you travel abroad
show employers you’re allowed to work in the UK
help prove you qualify for certain benefits and services

Everyone knows they'd never be allowed re-entry if they didn't have an RC, nor would a company hire you. Even when in the same job, I've been asked for my RC every new tax year, eventhough they have a copy of it on file.

[uaa1bee]

Hi guys, please feel free to contribute to this topic. In-case you haven't heard or seen this- ukba is to charge 300£ for eea applications.

UKBA- 'There is no fee for applications made by post or in person at the moment under European law. We will be introducing a fee of £300 for applications made in person at our public enquiry office in the future, but there will no fee for applications made by post. We will update the website when the fee for applying in person is introduced'.

What do you think guys?


http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/eucit ... /applying/

its just 55pounds not 300 !

[uaa1bee]

I have to reapply soon as my current RC is set to expire in March 2015. I have no problem paying a fee, but it better mean a better and quicker service, something the UK isn't known for. The Netherlands may have a small fee (not sure if they do but others have mentioned it), but you usually get your RC within 2-4 weeks, not at the end of 6 months. However, I have no confidence that this fee will quicken processing times.

This is the best part:

You don’t need a residence card to live in the UK, but it can:

help you re-enter the country more quickly and easily if you travel abroad
show employers you’re allowed to work in the UK
help prove you qualify for certain benefits and services

Everyone knows they'd never be allowed re-entry if they didn't have an RC, nor would a company hire you. Even when in the same job, I've been asked for my RC every new tax year, eventhough they have a copy of it on file.

Gentleman is right, the employer does ask to produce a RC every year.

[hunpak]

Can we do it for EEA4 PR application? i would love to pay 300-400 for the peace of mind

[Obie]

There are no premium service for EEA4 applications.

[g722199]

I am surprised that UKBA now in-care of HO seems to have got away with charging £55 or whatever it cost for EEA application. Despite the increment in revenue and from what I have heard so far, there has not been an improvement in processing time but improvement in the pay packet of the top guns in the HO.

So why do people keep paying this fee and how come all the free movement organisations or forums like this one haven't challenge the HO into explaining or justifying the £55 charge?

One other surprising thing it that people didn't even bother to request their money back once application is processed and successful as perhaps once suggested. Despite all the noise about how this fee will be challenged back in the early days, no one as really taken action.

I bet if HO as decided that £300 will be the processing fee, I doubt there would be any objection.

I will be interested to see what others views are on this matter.

Thanks you

[chaoclive]

I put a complaint in to the European Commission ages ago when the fees had just come in. It took a long time to get a response which I can't for the life of me find now, but I remember the response found that the UK had already taken the correct steps when they were setting up the fee system; they also found that it was acceptable to make a charge.

See here for my FOI request: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... e.pdf.html

[gozo1]

The commission must be having a nightmare, the fee charge is very wrong, if I was charged, I would definitely be taking matters to court, obnoxious bunch.

[g722199]

Further more, it is beyond me how HO make up this cost. As you may now know the cost of EEA app is up by £10 to £65 I think. Which is about 20%, well about rate of inflation not to even consider the talks of deflation. I bet their front line staff don't get pay rise up to rate of inflation so how dare they put it up by that much considering the legality issue surrounding the initial fee.

Surely the EEA app fees had one of the smallest increase, but something has to be done as this is getting out of hand. And this is not even mentioning the poor service most receive from this poorly run institution.

[wiggsy]

not only that... but the Home Office also expect you to pay a £19.80 fee to the post office now for biometrics...

See Mr Simpson's request discussing this fact/point regarding the £55 fee for residence documentation

[Dirk]

When Mrs Dirk applied for her RC in Spain they charged us €10.60 which is the same charge leveled against Spanish citizens for a National ID card.

We do not have a National ID card so they have chosen the passport as the item to charge a similar fee too which is £72.50. With biometric enrollment you end up paying £85.