The government’s plan to fund a public sector pay rise by hiking the fees charged to migrants for visa applications and NHS access has been described as “deeply unfair” and “deliberately divisive” by charities, unions and politicians.
Unison, which represents 1.3 million public service workers, warned that the increases would “push more people into poverty”, while the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants accused the government of a “blatant attempt to pit worker against worker and divide our communities”.
A trade body for the meat industry also said it feared the hike in fees would fuel inflation due to the increased cost to employers of hiring “much needed” factory workers from overseas. The British Meat Processors Association said “some of the extra cost” would “inevitably be passed on to consumers through higher food prices”.
The criticism comes after Rishi Sunak announced last week that a 5 to 7% pay rise for the public sector – including doctors and teachers – would be part-funded by hiking fees paid by migrants to live and work in the UK. Under the plans, the normal cost of the immigration health surcharge – the levy that many migrants are required to pay before submitting a visa application – will rise from £624 to £1,035 a year for each person, a 417% increase compared with five years ago. The fee for international students and children will rise from £470 to £776 a year.
With migrants required to pay the surcharge up front, the increase means a person coming for five years will face paying £5,175 in health fees alone. Visa fees will also rise by 15% for work and visit visas, and “at least 20%” for study visas, certificates of sponsorship and leave to remain, the government said. The total cost for a family of four moving to the UK will be “at least £33,000”, before legal and relocation costs, according to leading immigration barrister Colin Yeo.
Sunak said the rise in fees would help raise £1bn to partly fund the pay uplift for public sector workers, including police, NHS staff, junior doctors, prison officers, the armed forces and teachers. He said the “final” pay offer was a “breakthrough” after months of strikes and disruption and that it was fair to taxpayers and “the the public sector workers who do so much in the service of our country”. He added that he hadn’t wanted to fund it “by borrowing more”.
But critics said the decision to hike fees for migrants – despite critical worker shortages across a range of UK industries – would have a negative impact on individuals and the wider economy.
The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants said: “The UK already effectively taxes migrants twice for healthcare and has some of the most extortionate visa fees in Europe – a migrant family of four often has to pay about £50,000 over 10 years for the right to stay. This massive increase is simply unaffordable – it will price workers out of affording a visa and force thousands further into poverty during the cost of living crisis, or out of the country.”
“We already pay all the taxes a British person would,” said Jessica Lehman, 36, who moved from the US for a job at Durham University in 2018. “My work pays my surcharge fees, but we have to pay for my partner, which cuts into our income. It’s a significant amount of money, and you have to pay it all in one go. It makes it feel hard to feel desired here, and it only seems to be getting worse.”
Maja Davidović, a lecturer in international relations from Serbia who works at Cardiff University and took a loan to pay the fees associated with her skilled worker visa, said fixing problems in the public sector was “not as simple as charging migrants more money”. “It’s really harmful socially for our society – which already has xenophobia and hostility towards migrants – to do this. It sounds like one small policy but it’s deeply embedded in the divisive and borderline racist politics of the current government. This is not separate from small boats,” she said.
Fizza Qureshi, chief executive of the Migrants’ Rights Network, said it was “incredibly frustrating” that migrants were being asked to foot the bill for public sector pay rises. “We know from our community that existing high immigration fees have a negative impact on migrant communities, many of whom come to work in the public sector on low wages. Migrants are onceagain being picked on as an easy target,” she said.
Sarah Olney MP, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, said fees were already “extortionately high, stopping British employers from recruiting the staff they need and contributing to the shortages we’re seeing in many key sectors”. “Hiking them even further will be yet another terrible blow to our businesses, our economy and our public services,” she said.
The immigration fee rises are set to affect international workers across sectors ranging from engineering and academia to factory workers and hospitality staff. International students, who contributed £37.4bn to the UK economy in 2021/22, will also be hit. Healthcare workers are exempt from paying the immigration health surcharge.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “It is right and fair to increase the immigration health surcharge and visa application fees so we can fund vital public services and allow wider funding to contribute to public sector pay.” As well as the funds raised through the immigration fee increases, the pay rises will be paid for “through prioritisation within existing departmental budgets”, the government said.
Christina McAnea, the general secretary of Unison, said: “Migrant workers make a huge contribution to public services and society through their hard work and tax contributions. They should be welcomed and treated with respect, not punished for the government’s failure to fund public services properly.”
Additional reporting by Nneoma Ekwegh
