More than 76,000 visa fee waivers have been granted to migrants since Labour took office, handing taxpayers a bill of at least £96.2 million.
Official figures reveal 70,916 visa fee exemptions were handed out during Labour’s first 18 months in power, representing a 57 per cent surge compared to the 45,101 granted in the final 18 months of the previous Conservative administration.
Savings reach thousands per applicant
Individual adult applicants can save up to £3,994 per waiver. The total covers a £1,407 application fee alongside a £2,587 NHS health surcharge for 30 months of leave.
Not all applicants receive exemptions for the NHS surcharge, though official figures provide no specific breakdown.
To qualify for a waiver, applicants must show they are destitute, demonstrate that paying would leave them unable to afford food or housing, or prove that payment would harm the wellbeing of a child.
Backlogs mounting as requests double
A record 33,737 people applied for fee waivers in the first three months of this year, more than doubling the 13,669 requests made at the end of 2023.
An additional 33,393 applicants entered the system between April and June, creating the second highest quarterly total on record.
Civil servants are now struggling to keep pace with the massive influx of requests.
Out of the 33,737 waiver requests made in the first quarter of the year, officials processed just 478 within the Home Office target of 20 working days.
A total of 50,257 applications are currently waiting for a decision.
Surcharge hikes trigger application surge
Applications began soaring in early 2024 after the annual NHS health surcharge rose from £624 to £1,035.
Fee waivers were originally introduced following human rights court rulings, which determined that charging migrants for human rights applications they could not afford was unlawful.
Exemptions are available to partners and parents on the 10-year family route, individuals who have established a private life in the UK, and failed asylum seekers given leave on human rights grounds.
Small boat migrants and individuals granted asylum are already exempt from paying visa surcharges.
Migrants on the 10-year route must reapply every 30 months. As a result, the same individual can be granted up to four fee waivers before becoming eligible for settled status.
A further 2,353 waivers were granted to families applying from abroad to join relatives in the UK during Labour’s first 18 months.
Extensions granted across top nationalities
Nigerians, Indians, and Pakistanis represent the top nationalities awarded extensions on the family and private life route since July 2024.
Official data records 21,220 grants for Nigerian nationals, 19,402 for Indian nationals, and 16,679 for Pakistani nationals.
The Home Office does not publish details on which nationalities are most likely to receive fee waivers.
Responding to the figures, the Home Office said it did not recognise the data.
A spokesman added that the waiver acceptance rate was lower than before the election and was still falling.