New charge challenged
New charges have come into force for renewing discretionary leave to remain status
QARN, the Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network, is calling on Friends to help it challenge the government over new charges for renewing discretionary leave to remain status for asylum seekers.
The charges came into effect overnight last month (April). Applicants previously had to fill in a fifteen-page form free of charge. The new system means that they are now faced with a thirty-two-page form and a charge of £649 per person.
Applicants must also pay £600 per person for the newly introduced Immigration Health Surcharge. Asylum seekers without a Biometric Residence Permit (introduced three years ago) will pay an extra £40 each.
QARN described the changes as ‘a sinister revolution’, and Bridget Walker of QARN told the Friend that the human impact of the changes ‘will be disastrous’.
