Visa fees and migrant's health and wellbeing

Early day motion 443, tabled 11 October 2022 by Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour). Signed by 23 members.

That this House believes migrants who come to this country should not have to pay extortionate sums of money to apply for or to renew their visa; is concerned by the report by Migrant Voice, Destroying Hopes, Dreams, and Lives: How the UK visa costs and process impact migrants' lives, which outlines the effects excessive visa fees have on the lives of migrants and assesses how these cause mental health issues, large levels of debt and in some instances, food poverty; is outraged that that Home Office profits from these fees, with the cost of processing a visa only accounting for between 10-15% of the fee charged; believes this is wrong and that the Home Office should not profit off of migrants, particularly when doing so negatively impacts the health and wellbeing of migrants; further believes that migrants and their family should not have to pay tens of thousands of pounds during their route to settlement; calls on the Home Office to reduce the cost of visa applications to the administrative cost of visas only; and further calls on the Home Office to remove the charge entirely for applicants under the age of 18.

Signatures by party: Labour 9, Scottish National Party 5, Plaid Cymru 3, Alba 1, DUP 1, Green 1, Independent 1, Labour/Co-operative 1, Liberal Democrat 1.