Court rules bar set too high for NHS surcharge and visa fee waivers (The Guardian) (21 May 2020)

Our public law team have brought a case in relation to the Home Office’s fee waiver policy, with the Upper Tribunal declaring that the current policy is unlawful. Saul Stone, the solicitor who acted in the case comments: “This is a landmark judgment which will provide some reprieve to the thousands of people who apply for waivers of extortionate Home Office fees each year. This group is likely to include many low-paid migrant NHS workers who have been unable to demonstrate that they are destitute but nevertheless cannot afford the fees required to apply to stay in the UK. If you are granted a fee waiver for your immigration fees, you are also granted a fee waiver for the health surcharge – it goes hand in hand.”