Petition against the recent Fee changes

[Onnel]

1.

It is a discrimination of Tier1 General visa holders.

For example, Tier1 Investor (a millionaire) with 2 dependants will pay 30-60 GBP more. A rich person! Why should a Tier1 General man pay 1000 GBP more?!

Why companies with Tier2 workers will not pay additional 500 GBP, but a self employed Tier1 General person must pay?!

2.

If we will allow this price hike now they will increase the prices every 6 months again and again. Now they make it 500 GBP more expensive, next year they can make it 5'000 or 50'000 more expensive.

There is no limits. The visa "expenses" are 180-200 GBP, but they want us to pay 1500. It can not be explained by "inflation" or any other sensible reason. It is just "we want more money!"

[Sheffield_Marketeer]

Its true that the Tier 1 migrants have been unjustifiably targeted for this huge rise. Could this be because in the past there have been many cases where applications made for Tier 1 General visas (and HSMP in its earlier avataar) were hardly 'suitable' instances of Highly Skilled individuals as the UKBA had envisioned.

I personally know cases where people working in Mcdonalds, supermarkets-doing two jobs at a time, as Night Guards etc got these visas. Clearly this wasnt what the UKBA or the Government had aimed for?

I remember reading about this in a MAC or UKBA report some time back (tried referencing it, but couldnt find the document) but it was interesting to see how UKBA had pointed this incoherence in the actual job the person with the SKillled Visa they were on.
That's one of the reasons this visa was scrapped anyway and the present Tier 1 General folks are bearing the brunt of this.

I do agree that people who are genuinely 'HIGHLY SKILLED' shouldnt have had to face this discrimination.

Just my view

[rakeysh.patel]

Your study below is genuine in some cases and apple to eyes of UKBA but by no means that justifies an inch towards such hike. " Just my view "

Its true that the Tier 1 migrants have been unjustifiably targeted for this huge rise. Could this be because in the past there have been many cases where applications made for Tier 1 General visas (and HSMP in its earlier avataar) were hardly 'suitable' instances of Highly Skilled individuals as the UKBA had envisioned.

I personally know cases where people working in Mcdonalds, supermarkets-doing two jobs at a time, as Night Guards etc got these visas. Clearly this wasnt what the UKBA or the Government had aimed for?

I remember reading about this in a MAC or UKBA report some time back (tried referencing it, but couldnt find the document) but it was interesting to see how UKBA had pointed this incoherence in the actual job the person with the SKillled Visa they were on.
That's one of the reasons this visa was scrapped anyway and the present Tier 1 General folks are bearing the brunt of this.

I do agree that people who are genuinely 'HIGHLY SKILLED' shouldnt have had to face this discrimination.

Just my view

[Onnel]

Could this be because in the past there have been many cases where applications made for Tier 1 General visas (and HSMP in its earlier avataar) were hardly 'suitable' instances of Highly Skilled individuals as the UKBA had envisioned.

There are lots of fake wives/husbands coming to the UK by "spouse visa". And I am sure there are a lot more fake wives/husbands than "fake" Tier1 migrants. Why not make "spouse visa" 500 GBP more expensive? Eh?

We must provide an evidense of our salary to extend Tier1 visa. And we do. If some guy can earn 36000 GBP in McDonalds he is highly-qualified, indeed.

[manuelaux]

The most stupid thing that I ever done in my life was to come in the UK!!

First I applied for Tier1 visa that I paid 1000 pounds

Than I came here and spent 3000 pounds of my saving for the first month when I was jobless

Now I have good salary but nothing to save …

We all that came here under Tier1 were very good in our own countries; we didn’t have to come here to survive. We have good education and we had good jobs in our country.

We all came because we thought that our career will go up and that we will get good experience and progress in our lifes.

And what do we get??

If you come from a normal country like I did (CROATIA) where when you have good collage education and good job can live pretty good.

Living standards are high. In London if you want to live in a clean apartment you have to be at least upper middle class as living standard here is so low.

Second as you earn good money you will pay hi tax. So all of your salary will go on decent apartment and tax.

I have high salary much higher that average … And you call this a life???

I can just imagine how other people live that earns average salary or lover …

Then what?

The UK has such a weak immigration system. You can hear that almost 2.5 million people live here illegally!!! (That should give someone to think about perfect immigration system in the UK)

And what they do? They take money from us that pay high taxes and spend on a weak system they have.

They cannot charge asylum seekers or Polish people coming here? NOOOOO

They with no education, no savings … They don’t speak English … BUT THEY ARE WELCOME!!! AND WE ARE NOT!

They will get free housing, free allowance … They don’t have to do anything … We do for them … Our taxes pay their leisure life.

WE (Tier1) HOLDERS have no right to claim any benefit but we pay high taxes and NOW they raised prices for Tier 1 visa on almost 2000 pounds! THAT IS INSULTING!

F*CK THIS! I AM GOING AWAY!

What I did is I just help UK economy and I helped criminals, asylums seekers and Polish to have decent life… STUPID ME!

[chrischris]

a number of valid points have been raised in this discussion so far.

as i said in my first post, this was my opinion which might not be popular. and obviously some divergent opinions have been raised too. it's a free country, we are all entitled to these.

back to the original topic of the post - a petition on the increased fees. the UK is a democracy, anyone is free to submit and support the petition. i won't be supporting it though. i feel this is one battle that does not need to be fought, even if it is won there are still underlying issues that need resolving.

i'd rather a petition on improving the quality of service provided by UKBA and improving the transparency for applicants. i believe that these can be improved without compromising UKBA's efforts to fish out those who are abusing the system and giving the rest of us a bad name.

that's my opinion. best of luck with the fees petition.


cheers

PS: does anyone know a doctor that can give me some medication to reduce the stress and anxiety that UKBA is putting me under at the moment ?

[jaravind]

I do agree with Raxs completely.

A question for Chris - If you are ready to pay extra money for a quick feedback, why don't you pay extra money and get a PEO appointment.? I am just trying to be logical here.

[ScopeD]

PS: does anyone know a doctor that can give me some medication to reduce the stress and anxiety that UKBA is putting me under at the moment ?

Only UKBA have the perfect antidote for stress. What I am trying to say is that both you and I are stuffed (until they decide to administer the antidote...)

[thebionicredneck2003]

Chris,

Jaravind has asked a very good question. I patiently await your response.

[rakeysh.patel]

I think I would add to my previous posts. ChrisChris has acted very professionally. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. He needs not harassed with unwanted questions

[sherkhan297]

I would support the petition too.. has it been created already?
The increase in fee is absolutely ridiculous..if it was 5-10% you could still understand.. 50% is unfair...and the reason given for all fee increase was along the lines of

'' the people who benefit from these immigration categories should pay more to support the system and to keep it running and there should be less burden on the taxpayer''!!

[chrischris]

I do agree with Raxs completely.

A question for Chris - If you are ready to pay extra money for a quick feedback, why don't you pay extra money and get a PEO appointment.? I am just trying to be logical here.

well that's part of the problem isn't it? this forum is full of comments about how hard it is to get a PEO appointment by phone or how people have to wait till midnight to get an appointment online. that's just a hallmark of poor service delivery... that's what we should be signing petitions about.

[Onnel]

well that's part of the problem isn't it? this forum is full of comments about how hard it is to get a PEO appointment by phone or how people have to wait till midnight to get an appointment online. that's just a hallmark of poor service delivery... that's what we should be signing petitions about.

How about having 2 options:

1. Slow cheap service.
2. More expensive fast service.

Eh?

Now they make both postal and same-day applications 500 GBP more expensive WITHOUT any improvement of their services and with no way to make a choice.

Tier1 Investors, for example, have a choice:

1. Invest 10 millions, get ILR in 1 year.
...
5. Invest 1 million, get ILR in 5 years.

We have no choice at all.

As I said, if we will allow them to increase the price now, they will do that again and again every 6 months.

D.Green already said that he is going to increase the fee for dependants, so the dependants will pay the same fee as the main applicant. And he will do that! A family of 3 will pay 4500 GBP for their bloody "service".

And do not forget that they change ILR/settlement rules too!

[Onnel]

I have filed for it they are saying it will take them 7 days to review to be put online. I will post the link as soon as it will be online,in the mean while please raise awareness to friends to convery your concern.

Please take a look at
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20341
That was rejected because "they do not understand what do you want"

Did you clearly mention what do you want the government to do in your petition? If not, they will reject it too.

[shahjee11]

I have read comments by all the members here and I regret to say that I dont agree with whoever says that Tier 1 Visa holders are better than any other visa holder. What If Tier 1 visa holder lost his job, no benefits, no social welfare what he is going to do? Is he not going to leave the country or what?
When I applied for Tier 1 general, dependant's application was processed with out any fee so long as it was submitted together with the main applicant's application. Now they are charging £500 per dependent. This is 500 % increase isn't it?

A friend has submitted an e petition today for approval. Now waiting on it once its published, will let you all know here so that you can sign. Watch this space............by the way the wording is as follow

"UKBA has recently announced new Visa Fee to be enforced wef 06-04-2012 after parliamentary approval. Visa Fee for Tier 1 (General) category has been raised by 50% which is totally unfair. It has already been increased by 50 % for a Main applicant and at a ridiculous rate of 500 % for each dependent. Unfortunately, the statement of the immigration minister about this increase gives an impression that migrants are not UK tax payers. (Source www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk News 09-02-12)

In fact, migrants are equally contributing towards the economy by paying taxes and NI. I believe that such statements create confusions and may put migrants at risk of facing direct or indirect facial abuse from the majority of the public who are not aware of the ins and outs of current immigration system and who think that every migrant is on welfare benefits.

I therefore through this petition request you to stop these unjustified increases."

Watch this thread too

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... highlight=

[Onnel]

When I applied for Tier 1 general, dependant's application was processed with out any fee so long as it was submitted together with the main applicant's application. Now they are charging £500 per dependent. This is 500 % increase isn't it?

It would be 500% if it was 100 pounds initially. 500/100 = 5 times = 500%

It would be 50'000% if it was 1 pound (almost free) initially. 500/1 = 500 times = 50'000%

But it was FREE. Try to divide 500/0... It is an infinitely large %

[Onnel]

"UKBA has recently announced new Visa Fee to be enforced wef 06-04-2012 after parliamentary approval. Visa Fee for Tier 1 (General) category has been raised by 50% which is totally unfair. It has already been increased by 50 % for a Main applicant and at a ridiculous rate of 500 % for each dependent. Unfortunately, the statement of the immigration minister about this increase gives an impression that migrants are not UK tax payers. (Source www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk News 09-02-12)

In fact, migrants are equally contributing towards the economy by paying taxes and NI. I believe that such statements create confusions and may put migrants at risk of facing direct or indirect facial abuse from the majority of the public who are not aware of the ins and outs of current immigration system and who think that every migrant is on welfare benefits.

I therefore through this petition request you to stop these unjustified increases."

I think we have to mention that Tier1 General category is the ONLY ONE facing such a hike. It is a clear, pure, plain, uncovered and 100% discrimination. They must explain the reason of this discrimination.

[manuce]

Hi Guys,

The petition has been rejected based on the fact that it was not clear enough. Can we create another one and post it here first dicuss it and post it there. I realised my mistake pointed by one of the member earlier and I truely apologise for being hasty about it.

Can we please create another one and post it again.Anyone here having experience in writing petitions before?

Thanks and sorry again.

[manuce]

I agree to some point that we chose it by choice,but having said that we would also expect some fair treatment because we are also contributing to the tax payers polls to support the whole system. But it hurts to see how the system of benefits which gets cheated by many every other every day.It disappoints me when I read the newpaper and see how the tax payers money is getting wasted on 400000 pounds of Fig trees imported from Florida.

So they have this much to spend on trees, but not much to support the home office people who are working over their capacity and trying to do their job at their level best.Even with all the cut downs and lower wages. What kind of austarity measure is this 400000 pounds for Fig trees?,why can't they be spend to buy machines computer or what ever to support the home office people or spend somewhere useful.

I would also like to point out about the recent summer issue with the home office where check were relaxed. I have my concerns about why homeoffice can't trace those 180000+ immigrants who never got back and due to that we are facing the music today in which we had no part to play.

I see increasing of the fee as just an excuse, things won't get better like this, if you have read the news about the poor performance of network rail is pretty much a similar issue,this is what they said before increasing fares to improve service but until now no one is yet satisfied and you can read it everyday in newspaper.

Almost every other day I see signal failure and delay and poor punctuality even after paying alomost £2400/yr in travelling. I can see similar fate for the same issue. Also please be ready for the Biometric appointment storm as they have already made it must for everyone (staying over 6 months in UK). My friend had to book in Cardiff last night as he failed to get appointment anywhere in London.

Can we all start gathering details of the people who are on TIER 1 TIER 2 VISA. I know 10 to 20 people who are and am making them aware of the upcoming petition, can we all do the same please. Thanks

[rbk1597]

The whole argument provided by ChrisChris is false and flawed. There is a major lack of understanding of immigration law and human rights law here.
first, any government has a duty to its legal residents (immigrant or not) secondly any govt has a duty to its tax payer (immigrant or not) and thirdly any democratic institution has a duty to its constituent (immigrant or not)
those duties include the discharge of fairness.
There are many economic migrants who have argued their cases under human rights, fairness of decisions, reasonable expectations etc. and the highest of our courts and tribunals ruled that these cases are important, even offering guidance to our 'not fit for purpose' ukba.
to argue that its one's choice to come over here, so should play ball irregardless, is tantamount to accepting exploitation and abuse.

To put it in perspective, imagine its your choice to apply for an advertised job, but does that allow your boss to treat you unfairly later? No, because there are labour laws which take precedence over whatever contract you have with your boss. similaly, there are international laws which the uk govt subscribed to, eg Human rights laws.
If an 'unfair' or 'unreasonable' decision by the ukba affect your Human Rights, then that decision can be contested and justice can prevail.
Tier1 migrants had a reasonable expectation when they initially applied, if that expectation is no longer met, then they have a case.
check Paragraph 70 of R (on the application of Q and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2003] EWCA Civ 364

Other material for reference are:
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2012/02/ ... cue-again/

http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2012/02/ ... t-holders/

Hwts only important is to be able to demonstrate that these new changes are unfair or unreasonable. The courts are presided by human beings, if in case you find none within ukba.

[ablushali]

This is for Chris, if you want improved service by spending more money then it is already there,

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/about ... r-premium/

You don't need to go anywhere, they will come down to your place and do everything

[Onnel]

Hi Guys,

The petition has been rejected based on the fact that it was not clear enough. Can we create another one and post it here first dicuss it and post it there. I realised my mistake pointed by one of the member earlier and I truely apologise for being hasty about it.

Can we please create another one and post it again.Anyone here having experience in writing petitions before?

Thanks and sorry again.

You wrote:

As in all other categories the fees are being increased by roughly 2-3% we would like to request the government to re-visit this fee hike.

I think it should be like: "As in all other categories the fees are being increased by roughly 2-3% we would like to request the government to increase Tier1 General visa fee by 2-3% too. Instead of the planned 38-50% price hike." Correct my English, please. But I am sure this text is more "clear enough"

[ouflak1]

I do believe that the UK's intention is to reduce the number of Tier 1 extensions and discourage their related immigrants to come into the country. I believe they are going to do this irrespective of taxes or any other benefits that Tier 1 migrants may bring to the UK. Tier 1 is being singled out because of the sheer numbers involved and because of the political climate wanting to curb economic immigration.

I would tread carefully. The last time the UK was forced into a position of considering that a specific action regarding Tier 1 changes was unfair, they canceled an entire category! I think it highly unlikely that they will end Tier 1 General extensions, but they might otherwise resond in ways that none you might like. Cover your bases and be prepared for the worst.

[shahjee11]

If someone is willing to take a lead by creating a group such as Unite against UKBA fee increase or something on social media like on FB that would be great. I am not very active on FB so dont really know how to do it. I think by doing this, we can gather alot of like minded people and then asking them to sign the e petition once its published.

[Onnel]

I would tread carefully. The last time the UK was forced into a position of considering that a specific action regarding Tier 1 changes was unfair, they canceled an entire category! I think it highly unlikely that they will end Tier 1 General extensions, but they might otherwise resond in ways that none you might like. Cover your bases and be prepared for the worst.

We are ready. We have a choice:

1. Be silent. In this case they will ask to pay 10'000 GBP for ILR or so.

2. Try to fight now. With a possibility to win.