Immigration fee concessions for CESC nationals to end on 26 February
The Home Office has issued a notice for sponsors to confirm that immigration fee concessions that are currently in place for CESC nationals will come to an end on 26 February 2022.
Under the Council of Europe’s Social Charter (CESC), nationals of certain European countries currently benefit from reduced visa fees and free Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS). However, CESC nationals and their employers should be aware that when the concessions come to an end, they will be subject to Home Office immigration fees on the same basis as all other foreign nationals.
Visa applications submitted by, and Certificates of Sponsorship assigned to, CESC nationals on or after 26 February 2022 will incur the full standard visa or CoS fee. This includes Skilled Worker Defined CoS allocated to sponsors’ SMS account before 26 February 2022, but not assigned to a worker before that date.
What is the CESC and why is it ending?
The CESC is an International Treaty which the UK and 26 other countries have signed and brought into legal effect. The CESC contains an obligation for those countries to make it easier for citizens to move for work reasons to other countries that have also brought it into legal effect.
Through the UK’s acceptance of Article 18(2) of the treaty, the government was obliged to offer CESC nationals a fee reduction for visa applications to come to work in the UK. However, in July 2021 the UK government informed the Council of Europe that the UK would no longer accept Article 18(2) and as a result of that letter, the fee concessions for CESC nationals will end on 26 February 2022.
Those who are eligible for CESC fee concessions will continue to benefit in respect of applications made before 26 February, but it will end on that date.
What are the current concessions?
The concessions mean that CESC nationals from any of the listed countries are entitled to a £55 reduction in their visa application fee when applying for a visa or extending their stay in one of the eligible immigration work routes. Furthermore, sponsors issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to a CESC national on an eligible work route do not have to pay the £199 fee to issue the CoS.
Currently, you can qualify for the fee reduction if you are applying for an eligible immigration route and you are a national of one of the following countries:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Slovak Republic
- Spain
- Sweden
- Turkey
The visa application fee reduction applies only to the main applicant. Any accompanying dependants will need to pay the full fee.
Home Office immigration fees for 2022
CESC nationals who plan to apply for a UK work visa on or after 26 February should familiarise themselves with the current Home Office visa fees for the route they will be applying under.
A full list of UK immigration fees can be found here. Alternatively, Smith Stone Walters can provide up to date advice on your chosen route. To speak to an advisor, please contact us today.
