UKBA To Charge For EEA Applications

[sjimoh112]

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/

[flames]

I would be happy to pay that fee as long as i walk away with the visa and not get any talk about further enquiries after paying such a seemingly extortinate fee of £300. I just hope they wont divert resources to the one day service at the expense of the postal applications.

[vinny]

Charging a fee is contrary to 16(7), 17(7) and 18(4).

[SunBlue]

Vinny, I know that the charge shouldn't be there, etc. But strangely they also charge in Germany and the Netherlands... In Germany it's about 80 EUR! How can they do this too?

[fysicus]

Of course 300 pounds amounts to extortion, especially when the alternative (by post) takes so incredibly long.

Only when the average processing time of any EEA application is well below one month, charging a fee for a premium service might be considered because then people have a real choice.

Charging a moderate fee is allowed under the EU directive, but I don't think 300 pounds qualifies as moderate.

[keffers]

Stop moaning.

Just like people who use this forum, UKBA are perfectly capable of making literal interpretations of legislation.

To issue, means to give and is the end part of a process. UKBA can easily argue that the issuing is free but an enhanced process on request must be paid for.

Free? I did not know the UKBA staff worked for nothing in buildings free from rent, rates and heating bills. Other people are paying for the service through their tax. Get real.

[os_sbs]

i would be happy to £300 to get my application sorted ASAP. Especially after i had to wait for 18 (!!) months for my EEA2 to be approved.

paying fee when applying in person still leaves the option free of charge for applications by post so I think it's a good alternative for months of waiting and being stuck in the country.

[Nimitta]

Free? I did not know the UKBA staff worked for nothing in buildings free from rent, rates and heating bills. Other people are paying for the service through their tax. Get real.

It looks like you are not aware of the fact that each EU country's citizens cover similar expanses through their tax for FREE visa entrance and residence permit's for guests from other EU states. When the EU countries were signing it I think they knew about rent and heating bills. So, get real.

[keffers]

i would be happy to £300 to get my application sorted ASAP. Especially after i had to wait for 18 (!!) months for my EEA2 to be approved.

paying fee when applying in person still leaves the option free of charge for applications by post so I think it's a good alternative for months of waiting and being stuck in the country.

Thank goodness for that bit of common sense and reasonableness.

What about the poor person who lives hundreds of miles away from the office where it can be made in person. If it were free should they have their bus fare paid as well?

Its a small investment to make when one considers the benefits. Stop being such cheapskates.

[Nimitta]

Stop being such cheapskates.

It would be nice if you stop being rude.

[Obie]

The bottom line is this policy is illegal. It is not about affordability or rich and poor business. It is simply about conformity with community law and national laws adopted to implement community law. I am in strong agreement with vinny and others that national rules forbid charging for these application, and community law forbid charging more than the fee charged to national of the memberstate for equivalent documents.

Community law provision is not a commodity that can be sold, or has tier system depending on someones bank balance.

In Denmark, Netherlands, Germany and other, aoplication of these sorts are dealt with in a day, free of charge, or for less than this extortionate fees charges by these corrupt and inept institution called the UKBA.

I hope the commission is taking note of this unlawful practice.

[keffers]

In Denmark, Netherlands, Germany and other, aoplication of these sorts are dealt with in a day, free of charge, or for less than this extortionate fees charges by these corrupt and inept institution called the UKBA.

There is no more corrupt institution than the EU. Its accounts have not been signed off in 16 years. A truly corrupt, unaccountable institution if ever there were one.

Handy for riding roughshod over national immigration laws and a goldmine for immigration lawyers, nevertheless.

[khan2015]

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/

Hi guys,I think its a good news at least now we don't have to wait in months when they are going to charge for the applications any update?

[John]

Vinny has already provided a link to the UK's regulations. I have looked at the EU Directive. Here is Article 25 :-

Article 25

General provisions concerning residence documents

1. Possession of a registration certificate as referred to in Article 8, of a document certifying permanent residence, of a certificate attesting submission of an application for a family member residence card, of a residence card or of a permanent residence card, may under no circumstances be made a precondition for the exercise of a right or the completion of an administrative formality, as entitlement to rights may be attested by any other means of proof.


2. All documents mentioned in paragraph 1 shall be issued free of charge or for a charge not exceeding that imposed on nationals for the issuing of similar documents

So that seems pretty clear to me. I wonder what sort of document UKBA thinks there is a charge for £300 for that is imposed on nationals?

I shall be pointing this matter out to my MP and asking him to ascertain how UKBA thinks that such a charge does not contravene the terms of the EU Directive, or indeed the UK's regulations made to bring such Directive into force in the UK.

[vinny]

Good News for all EEA Route Applicant.

EEA Route Premium services will be starting from next month 15-08-2011.
EEA1 will be processed free as it is now but
EEA2,3,4and dependants will be charged £300 not for application cost but to be served for the same day (Only Straight Forward Applications).

Best Of LUCK.

i've just checked on ukba website and couldn't find a link to the news u've just given, how do u know the service will start august? could you please post a link to verify/confirm this. thanks

where did you read this, the UKBA website makes no reference to this, as i understand, it is on hold as there have been a number of legal challenges, to this proposal.

I was thinking the same. The last we heard was on the 29 June, when it was stated that updates will be provided in due course. 

I believe the UK will have to make regulations, in order to bring this policy to life. There is no proposal on the table for this as yet, added to the fact that they have to sought approval from the European Commission or law makers, on whether this will be compatible with community law or not.

In the absence of concrete evidence, i will advice viewer or potential postal applicant  to ignore this, and carry on with the on going policy.

We got this info. in fax.


Fax was received yesterday.

They might have not updated yet on their web-site.

But it is confirmed.

I voiced my opinion about this various times, and it hasn't changed.

Straightforward applications should normally be decided (via the existing postal procedure) within say two weeks, a month at the very most. Other EU countries manage to do that, why not UK?

Because of a (deliberate?) lack of resources there is a big backlog, and hence a market for this extortionate premium service.

By the way, how should one decide if an application is straightforward? What if you submitted your application, paid the fee, and then for some reason during the processing it is considered to be not straightforward: will you then get your money back?

We got this info. in fax.


Fax was received yesterday.

They might have not updated yet on their web-site.

But it is confirmed.

jimmyharris did u ask for this information through 'freedom of information' from the homeoffice? just trying to work out how you come across receiving a fax from ukba, well it goes both ways...some people might like this premium service as it saves them time and hassle having to send their passport away for months whereas they can just pay £300 and have the application dealt with in a day and also save confusions when it comes to applying for British citizenship because they can apply 12months from the date of issue of the PR and not having to send loads of payslips and p60s....and other might not like this idea at all because this might slow down postal applications as ukba might not have enough staffs to deal with the postal services having staffs focus on the premium services anyway we'll see if this is true.

I voiced my opinion about this various times, and it hasn't changed.

Straightforward applications should normally be decided (via the existing postal procedure) within say two weeks, a month at the very most. Other EU countries manage to do that, why not UK

I still don't know why it can't be done in the Register Office. They do Births, Marriage, Deaths Certificates, merely confirming what has already happened. Residence Cards are a confirmation of a right.  :evil:

also save confusions when it comes to applying for British citizenship because they can apply 12months from the date of issue of the PR and not having to send loads of payslips and p60s....

This is wrong.  

You can apply for British citizenship one year after you get PR.   This is typically 5+1 years after you arrive in the UK. 

That can be very different from when you get a PR Card.   You normally get the card a few months after whenever you apply for it (which is after you have PR).

Note that you do not need to have a PR Card to apply for British Citizenship.

how and when can I book an appointment for the EEA Route Premium services?? i think it could be easier rather than waiting for half a year for a response. my application took like 8 months to be considered. and it was a straightforward one. thank you fr info in advance. xx

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... um-service

We got this info. in fax.


Fax was received yesterday.

They might have not updated yet on their web-site.

But it is confirmed.

Thanks mate.If you have no problem can you please post that fax on this forum so that would be great.In order to understand,yes at last its going to be implemented.Many Thanks

We got this info. in fax.


Fax was received yesterday.

They might have not updated yet on their web-site.

But it is confirmed.

if this information is true (i'm not saying it isn't) i would imagine the ukba to have updated their website telling people about this a month before it's meant to be implemented. i thought people are meant to book well in advance when applying at one of the peo's office.

i suggest jimmyharris should refrain from undocumented, bogus, misleading and vague information on this board. If you cant prove anything, dont say it.

i suggest jimmyharris should refrain from undocumented, bogus, misleading and vague information on this board. If you cant prove anything, dont say it.

Any update on this info,
If it really gonna start next month

If you notice, jimmyharris has been banned from the site... this could be due to him being a wind up merchant who just wanted to get everyone's hopes up. Or he might have done something else to get banned, we'll never know. So take anything he said with a pinch of salt, especially when he was asked for evidence and couldn't provide any.

-----

Does anyone have any idea when EEA Premium Service would be start? Do you prefer this service if it starts soon?  :?:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... um-service

I suppose this will be the place to visit when and if the announcement comes.

Thank alekos!

I know this link. Just want to know whether how many would prefer this service?

Thank alekos!

I know this link. Just want to know whether how many would prefer this service?

i don't think so much as the same thing can be done for free except postage prices,.

I would very much prefer this service!

I'd prefer an actual card, ordered in a council office for about £60. I hear that's the way it gets done in Austria. 
It might happen when the cuts at the UKBA start to bite.

Premium service is still under consideration and there is no fixed date announced yet for this service.

I think it would be better for those who are employed and need to show proof of employment. I think better to pay £300 then waiting Four to Six months waiting time with lot of headeche and stress and compromising your trevelling plans etc.

It is believed that One day cricket is better than 5 days test cricket (where you dont know the result though).

-----

Any update on EEA route Premium service?
That when they gonna launch.

Keep checking the UKBA website. If any news materialises, it should be on there.

when they gonna launch.

I suspect never! My reasoning is that the EU Directive is quite clear, EEA applications are to be free, so suspect that they are getting legal advice that it is not possible to charge, even for a Premium Service.

But we wait and see what happens.

That's what I thought, but they seem to have a way round it. But right now they can't justify the backlog of pending applications so they probably need to clear that/offer the unduly delayed ones same day service for free.

Here's their rationale behind the how they'll get round the EU regs. (page 19)

I am aware their argument is :-

This fee follows the Free Movement Directive and is not set towards the cost of the document, but the actual appointment on the basis of the additional cost to process applications at the Public Enquiry Office

-: but I suspect they now realise the argument does not hold up from the legal point of view. 

If the fee is introduced I look forward to someone paying the fee, and after the document is issued, asking for their money back, and commencing legal action if need be.

I am aware their argument is :-

This fee follows the Free Movement Directive and is not set towards the cost of the document, but the actual appointment on the basis of the additional cost to process applications at the Public Enquiry Office

-: but I suspect they now realise the argument does not hold up from the legal point of view. 

If the fee is introduced I look forward to someone paying the fee, and after the document is issued, asking for their money back, and commencing legal action if need be.

But I thought the EU regulations do allow them to charge anyway (a reasonable fee), and besides - doesn't Austria do that already??

" 2.   All documents mentioned in paragraph 1 shall be issued free of charge or for a charge not
exceeding that imposed on nationals for the issuing of similar documents"

From the link above

From June this year the service will be available to those EEA nationals applying under EEA 2, 3 and 4.  There will be provisions for EEA1 applications to be dealt with free of charge but only if submitted with an associated EEA 2 or 4 charged application. The fee of £300 is payable for each application and a fee of £300 is payable for each dependant.

This fee follows the Free Movement Directive and is not set towards the cost of the document, but the actual appointment on the basis of the additional cost to process applications at the Public Enquiry Office. The service will be introduced on a limited basis and by appointment only.  An EEA or Swiss National applying for a registration certificate (EEA1) in their own right may continue to do so free of charge and by appointment through Croydon Public Enquiry Office only.

The bold text is their actual argument because Article 25(2) only mentions charges for documents.  The UKBA would be in trouble there because there are no similar documents for UK nationals.

The UKBA would also need to explain why charges apply in some case but not in others.  I also wonder how they arrived at £300 but maybe that is because they need to limit the service...

[rachellynn1972]

The fees is okay as long it will be refundable if your application fail, if not ukba will using it to get money from people like the way they do on visa fees for non eea.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

I think the UK is on very shaky ground charging a fee for express consideration of the Residence Card. They already must issue it "as soon as possible".

ECJ Case C-157/03, Commission v Spain [2005]

45 It must be pointed out that under Article 5(1) of Directive 64/221 the Member State must take a decision on whether to grant a residence permit as soon as possible and in any event not later than six months from the date on which the application was submitted.

[pinkpanter]

I will appreciate this services fee, providing refundable if your application fail. It depends on the circumstances i.e. your job is on sake, or travelling plans, etc. It will definately helps a lot of applicants.

The fee should not be more than £100.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

I will appreciate this services fee, providing refundable if your application fails. It depends on the circumstances i.e. your job is on sake, or travelling plans, etc. It will definately helps a lot of applicants.

The fee should not be more then £100.

The point is they are legally required to have fast turn around for ALL applications without charging additional fees.

[mcovet]

+1 Agreed!!!

The argument is, if they can have additional resources to process the premium applications, why not use those same resources to process the ordinary applications on the "as soon as possible" basis!!!

Anyway, from a practical point of view I expect that the waiting times to get an appointment for the premium applications will creep up to the 2-3 month timescale anyway (which is the time it takes, on average, to process the applications now anyway!), and people might as well have used the postal service. With the only exception being EEA3&4 applications who could book in advance of their 5-year time limit approaching to apply for PR.

So, guys, nothing but a money maker for UKBA in the area which they couldn't get anything in the past, talk about ingenious...

I will appreciate this services fee, providing refundable if your application fails. It depends on the circumstances i.e. your job is on sake, or travelling plans, etc. It will definately helps a lot of applicants.

The fee should not be more then £100.

The point is they are legally required to have fast turn around for ALL applications without charging additional fees.

[pinkpanter]

Anyway, from a practical point of view I expect that the waiting times to get an appointment for the premium applications will creep up to the 2-3 month timescale anyway (which is the time it takes, on average, to process the applications now anyway!),

Yes you are right but, when you know that your PR right is due within 3 months then, you should book the appointment in 3 months in advance to avoid any further delay.

With the only exception being EEA3&4 applications who could book in advance of their 5-year time limit approaching to apply for PR.

Thats exactly what I am saying...
I dont think UKBA would offer free of charge premium service however, at least it would help to protect your employment or emergency trevelling

[Monifé]

£300 is absolutely extortionate. Especially for something they are legally not allowed to charge for.

Even if you had a pretty well paid job, I do not know who in their right mind would pay £300 to these thieves when they can just wait a few months for their decision (and can still work using the temporary stamp so it is not like they are put out in any way).

[86ti]

I do not know who in their right mind would pay £300 to these thieves when they can just wait a few months for their decision (and can still work using the temporary stamp so it is not like they are put out in any way).

Those who are desperate enough ... for various reasons.

There is no such thing as a temporary stamp in the UK, only the CoA (confirmation of application) which, however, only appears to grant a right to work for a maximum of six months (obviously the UKBA is very confident now that they can process all applications within that time frame).

[pinkpanter]

£300 is absolutely extortionate. Especially for something they are legally not allowed to charge for.

Even if you had a pretty well paid job, I do not know who in their right mind would pay £300 to these thieves when they can just wait a few months for their decision (and can still work using the temporary stamp so it is not like they are put out in any way).

I dont think UKBA advisers are stupid that they don't even think before introducing this services. Obviously they must have some grounds on which they can argue that this paid service is legal or illegal. I am really interesting to know on what grounds they are considering.

[chursy]

Does anyone know when this is going to come in practice.

Or is this in place already?