(MENAFN- Live Mint) The government of the United Kingdom (UK) has announced proposals to hike certain immigration fees, including the cost to issue a Certificate of Sponsorship (COS), among others. This move could affect Indians aspiring to work in the UK.
The cost of a Certificate of Sponsorship is a fee that employers pay for sponsoring foreign nationals under the Skilled Worker Route.
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According to the proposals, this fee is expected to more than double from £239 to £525.
The proposals are now awaiting approval by the UK Parliament, among other legal processes that will have to take place before the proposals come into effect.
In the proposals, no definitive date has been mentioned by which the fee hike will be implemented.
"The proposed fee hikes, which also include increased costs for naturalisation and electronic travel authorisations, are yet to receive parliamentary approval," the UK government said in a statement.
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The UK government said that the changes to Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs), certificates of sponsorship and nationality products are expected to generate an additional £269 million a year, thereby reducing the financial burden of running the immigration system on taxpayers money.
Fee hikes for students and skilled workers
Students applying for UK study visas will now have to shell out more money from January 2025.
Living expense evidence will increase to £1,483 per month for London courses (£13,347 for a one-year master's programme) and £1,136 per month for courses outside London (£10,224 for nine months),
Presently, these fees stand at £1,334 and £1,023 per month for London and other regions, respectively.
Skilled workers will also have to face stricter financial thresholds.
Income thresholds for first-time applicants will be hiked to £38,700 and for families increased to £38,700 from £29,000.
'Significant' UK immigration cut
Last November, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had promised to cut net migration after the latest data showed the number of people arriving in the UK remained historically high despite curbs introduced by the last Conservative government.
He said the blame lay with the Tories, whose 14 years in power he ended with a landslide election victory for Starmer's Labour Party in the July general election. Pointing to a quadrupling of the annual net migration tally since the previous election in 2019, Starmer said the Conservatives had run the country as an“experiment” in open borders.
“I want to see immigration come down significantly,” Starmer said.
“Where the last government failed you, this one will not,” he said, promising to publish a white paper“imminently” outlining the government's plans to get numbers down.
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