OUTRAGE AMID ‘PROHIBITIVE’ COST OF VISA AND PASSPORT APPLICATION FEES
MIGRANTS in the UK – among them doctors and nurses – are facing poverty due to the rocketing price of Home Offices fees, lawyers and campaigners have warned.
They have hit out at the rising charges for asylum, immigration and nationality applications and say it is breaking up families with some moving back to south Asia because they cannot afford the costs.
Among non-EU migrants affected are those working in the NHS who face visas costs of £1,200 and a £600 Immigration Health Surcharge – paid every time migrants change jobs, even if it’s within a year.
The independent chief inspector of borders and immigration has launched an inquiry into the charges, which have gone up since 2010. Other charges are a £3,250 levy for indefinite leave for an adult dependent relative and £1,330 for an adult naturalisation application.
The Home Office has reportedly made profits of up to 800 per cent on some immigration applications from families. The cost to the department of processing a naturalisation application is £372.
Vicash Ramkissoon, business immigration director at Duncan Lewis Solicitors, said the UK now has a reputation for having “one of the highest visa processing fees in the world”.
He told Eastern Eye: “Migrants have faced year on year increases to their visa costs which are clearly unjustifiable especially when it has been widely reported that the Home Office are making up to an 800 per cent profit on some applications.
“Costs are much higher when applying for settlement in the UK and a family of four would be charged an extortionate amount of almost £10,000 to make an application for indefinite leave to remain.
“Many have no choice in paying such costs, having settled here with their families, and are often faced with using credit cards or taking out loans to pay for Home Office fees.
“In extreme cases, only some members have applied initially to save costs, which can lead to the risk of breaching immigration rules for the other family members, especially when their visas have expired.
“The additional cost of the IHS, which is mandatory for most applications, can only be described as a ‘stealth tax’ against working migrants who would already be contributing to the UK’s public services through tax and national insurance contributions.”
The registration fee for an adult has risen from £500 seven years ago to £1,206. And the cost of a settlement visa for a dependent relative has increased from £585 in 2008-09 to £3,250 in 2017-18.
Naturalisation for non-British overseas territory citizens costs £1,330, compared with £906 in 2014- 15, while nationality registration for adults has gone up from £823 in 2014-15 to £1,206.
Chai Patel, legal and policy director at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, told Eastern Eye: “The evidence shows that migrants contribute more to the UK’s public services in taxes than they use themselves.
“In that context, targeting migrants for additional taxes, fees and surcharges seems nonsensical.
“Many of these measures are announced by politicians to give the impression that migrants create a drain on the public purse, when in fact the reverse is true. This sort of thing poisons the public debate and needs to stop.”
Registration fees for children to become British citizens has also soared. It costs £1,012 to register under-18s, up from £500 in 2011. Discounts for a second or additional child were axed in 2014.
Amit Kapadia, executive director of the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme Forum, said: “The HSMP Forum made number of submissions against the Home Office’s exorbitant fees which is, at times, 10 times more than the costs it incurs in processing an application.
“Furthermore, the kind of ever-deteriorating services which are received by applicants makes it wholly disproportionate.
“On top of this, the immigration health surcharge impacts migrants’ family life as it means they are either forced into poverty or the option to send their family back home.
“The application of an immigration health surcharge is a new low. Those having a family with a sole bread winner are even more disadvantaged as a result of such draconian visa fees and surcharge.”
A Home Office spokeswoman said when setting fees, it takes into account the wider costs involved in running its border, immigration and citizenship system.
“There are exceptions to application fees to protect the most vulnerable, such as for young people who are in the care of a local authority.
“Application fees are also waived where evidence provided shows a person may be destitute, or where there are exceptional financial circumstances, and requiring a payment would result in a breach of rights under the European convention on human rights.”
A VANDALISED plinth of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in London was restored in time for the birth anniversary of the Indian freedom icon on Thursday (2).
India’s High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami and the mayor of Camden Council were joined at Tavistock Square by community leaders s tributes were paid on Gandhi’s birthday, which is marked as the International Day of Non-Violence.
“It’s particularly timely that we have this event today, not just because it is International Day of Non-Violence, which is Gandhi Jayanti, but also because of what was done to the statue and its base a few days ago,” Doraiswami said.
“That was particularly saddening because this statue has been here for over 50 years in this square and it’s been part of the architecture and fabric of the India-UK friendship," he added.
“It’s the community around Tavistock Square who reported this act of vandalism and it’s all of us, the High Commission and the Camden Council team, who managed to have it cleaned to a brilliant gleaming white again; which is in a sense a lovely message.
“It carries the message of swachhta or cleanliness, it carries the message of renewal, but it also carries the message that you cannot do violence to an idea whose time has come.”
Camden mayor, councillor Eddie Hanson, said he and his team had been very upset when they heard about the “very, very sad incident".
“This statue means everything to us here in Camden when it comes to peace. That's why he's here with us, because we believe in his message, we believe in his teaching, we believe in what Gandhiji stood for,” said Hanson.
The annual gathering concluded with the students of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in London performing Gandhiji’s favourite bhajans, ‘Raghupati Raghav’ and ‘Vaishnava Jan’, and a peace prayer by Buddhist monks.
The group also laid floral tributes at the Gandhi statue at Parliament Square to mark his 156th birth anniversary.
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PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer on Thursday (2) called for a "robust" response by the head of London's under-fire Metropolitan Police after a BBC undercover report showed officers using excessive force and making racist and misogynistic comments.
"I've not yet seen the footage, but I've had it described to me, and it's shocking, and I'm glad the commissioner is responding. He needs to be very robust in his response," Starmer told reporters ahead of a meeting with European leaders in Copenhagen.
BBC reporter Rory Bibb spent seven months until January 2025 working in a civilian role as a detention officer in the custody suite of Charing Cross police station in central London.
The resulting BBC Panorama documentary, aired on Wednesday (1), exposed officers making misogynistic, racist and Islamophobic remarks, as well as using excessive force.
Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley condemned the behaviour as "completely reprehensible".
Anyone viewing the footage would be "upset and angry... seeing the racism, the misogyny, and the sort of relishing in using excess force on people who've been arrested", he said, adding that he was working urgently to have the officers dismissed.
He said that following contact with the BBC ahead of the programme 10 officers and staff had been suspended.
"They are suspended, they are not anywhere near the public any more, but I want them off the payroll and gone as quickly as possible," he told BBC radio.
The custody team at the Charing Cross station featured in the report has been disbanded, according to Rowley.
During the reporter's time undercover, "officers called for immigrants to be shot, revelled in the use of force and were dismissive of rape claims," the BBC said in a statement.
Several male police officers were secretly filmed making shocking statements, including that a detainee who had overstayed his visa should have "a bullet through his head", and that migrants from Algeria and Somalia were "scum".
The reputation of UK policing has been in tatters since the 2021 kidnap, rape and murder of marketing executive Sarah Everard by a serving Met officer who was later jailed for life.
In another shocking case, an officer from the same unit last year received 36 life sentences for a "monstrous" string of 71 sexual offences, including the rapes of 12 women.
In the year to March 2024, nearly 600 officers in England and Wales were sacked.
The Met alone in January 2023 revealed that 1,071 officers in the 40,000-strong force of staff and officers had been under investigation for domestic abuse and violence against women and girls.
England and Wales has a police workforce of more than 147,000 across the 43 forces.
(AFP)
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Members of the public and congregants seen as Police and other emergency responders attend the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, where multiple were injured after stabbing and car attack on Yom Kippur, on October 2, 2025 in the Crumpsall suburb of Manchester, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
TWO people have died in the incident at a synagogue in Manchester in northern England and a third person suspected to be the offender who was shot by police is also believed to have died, a police statement said.
Police said they could not confirm if the suspect was dead "due to safety issues surround suspicious items on his person." A bomb disposal unit has been called and is now at the scene.
Greater Manchester Police said officers had been called on Thursday (2) to the incident at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the north Manchester district of Crumpsall after a witness said they had seen a car driven at members of the public and that one man had been stabbed.
Armed officers responded and a man, believed to be the offender, was shot, GMP said.
King Charles said he was "deeply shocked and saddened" by the attack. Charles said he and Queen Camilla were "deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the horrific attack in Manchester, especially on such a significant day for the Jewish community" as members celebrated the Yom Kippur holiday.
A video shared on social media and verified by Reuters showed police shooting a man inside the synagogue’s perimeter, while another man lay on the floor in a pool of blood, appearing to wear a traditional Jewish head covering.
"I'm appalled by the attack at a synagogue in Crumpsall," prime minister Keir Starmer said on X as he left a European political meeting in Copenhagen early.
"The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific," Starmer said.
A Reuters photographer reported a heavy police presence in the area. Ambulance crews were seen in protective body armour and helmets, and at least one person was seen being taken into an ambulance.
Police said there were further reports that a security guard had been attacked with a knife.
The Israeli embassy in London condemned the attack, calling the act which left two people dead "abhorrent and deeply distressing" in a social media post.
Greater Manchester Police said they were called to the scene shortly after 9.30am, when a witness said the assailant drove a car at people and then stabbed someone. Police then shot the suspected attacker. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
"Paramedics arrived at the scene ... and are tending to members of the public, currently four members of the public with injuries caused by both the vehicle and stab wounds," GMP said in a statement on X.
There were no further details.
Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar when even many non-regular synagogue-goers take time to pray and all road traffic stops in Israel.
Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said it was a serious incident but told BBC radio "that the immediate danger appears to be over".
The Community Security Trust, a charity that provides security to Jewish organisations and institutions across Britain, said it was working with police and the local community. "This appears to be an appalling attack on the holiest day of the Jewish year," the CST said on X.
Britain suffered its second worst year for antisemitism in 2024 with more than 3,500 incidents being recorded, reflecting sustained levels of hatred towards Jews, the CST said earlier this year.
Reported levels of antisemitism rocketed to record levels in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and Israel's subsequent war in Gaza that has devastated the Palestinian enclave.
Britain has suffered a number of Islamist militant attacks since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, including a deadly 2017 suicide bombing at the end of an Ariana Grande pop concert in Manchester.
The police have in recent years also warned about the threat from organised far-right terrorism.
Earlier this year, British right-wing extremists were convicted of planning to carry out a terrorist attack at mosques or synagogues as part of a "race war".
MINISTER for equalities, Seema Malhotra, this week hosted a race equalities meeting at Downing Street and pledged to work for a fairer society, ahead of Black History Month, observed in October.
Ethnic minority leaders and representatives from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the British Business Bank, the West Midlands Combined Authority, the National Police Chiefs' Council and Avon and Somerset Police attended a meeting of the Race Equality Engagement Group (REEG) on Monday (29).
Its chair is Baroness Doreen Lawrence.
Malhotra said, “No one should be held back or denied opportunities because of their race.
“I am committed to working closely with the group to remove barriers, strengthen accountability and help create a fairer society for communities up and down the country.”
Improving access to investment for ethnic minority led businesses and the Police Race Action Plan were on the agenda for the meeting.
“The Race Equality Engagement Group is working to ensure ethnic minorities' voices are heard having their say on the issues that matter most to them. I look forward to working with members to bring about real and lasting progress on race equality,” said Lawrence.
“Collaboration between ethnic minority communities and the government is crucial in this current climate.”
The REEG, set up in March, aims to strengthen the government's links with ethnic minority communities.
An Equality (Race and Disability) Bill is set to be introduced to address mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers, which the government believes would be a significant step towards greater workplace equality.
Black History Month is marked in October and celebrates the contribution of black and ethnic minority leaders, activists and pioneers.
A JUDGE has described how vulnerable young girls were let down by local authorities in northern England as he jailed seven members of a child sexual exploitation gang for between 12 to 35 years on Wednesday (1).
The men, all of south Asian descent, exploited at least two vulnerable white teenage girls in Rochdale, near Manchester, using them as "sex slaves".
They were repeatedly raped over a five-year period starting in 2001, a court heard.
Jurors heard they were forced to have sex "with multiple men on the same day, in filthy flats and on rancid mattresses".
"They were passed around for sex - abused, humiliated, degraded and then discarded," judge Jonathan Seely said on passing sentence.
The longest sentence of 35 years went to market stallholder Mohammed Zahid, 65.
The father-of-three gave free underwear from his lingerie stall to both teenagers, alongside money, alcohol and food, expecting in return regular sex with him and his friends.
The Manchester resident was found guilty of 20 offences including rape, indecency with a child, and attempting to procure unlawful sexual intercourse from a girl.
Fellow Rochdale market traders Mushtaq Ahmed, 67, and Kasir Bashir, 50, both of Oldham, received jail terms of 27 years and 29 years, respectively.
Both were convicted of offences including rape and indecency with a child.
Bashir, who absconded before the trial began and is believed to have fled abroad, was sentenced in absentia.
Taxi drivers Mohammed Shahzad, 44, Naheem Akram, 49, and Nisar Hussain, 41, all of Rochdale, were convicted of multiple counts of rape and received sentences ranging from 19 to 26 years.
A final offender, 39-year-old Roheez Khan, of Rochdale, was jailed for 12 years for a single count of rape.
The men sentenced on Wednesday were prosecuted as part of Operation Lytton, a police investigation launched in 2015 into historical child sexual exploitation in Rochdale.
Police probes into historic child sexual exploitation in Rochdale have so far led to the conviction of 32 offenders, including the seven sentenced on Wednesday, according to the police.
The perpetrators have collectively been jailed for more than 450 years.
Handing down the jail terms, Seely said the two victims "were highly vulnerable, both had deeply troubled backgrounds and were known to the authorities".
Seven men jailed for more than 170 years for Rochdale child sexual exploitation
"They were highly susceptible to the advances of these men and others, and both were sexually abused by numerous other men," he noted.
"Both were seriously let down by those whose job it was to protect them."
A jury hearing their four-month trial in Manchester found all seven guilty in June of rape and dozens of other offences, after both victims gave evidence in court.
Social services and police have apologised for their past failings surrounding the victims.
Liz Fell, specialist prosecutor in the case, thanked both victims for their "strength and dignity throughout what has been a lengthy and challenging legal process".
"Their determination to see justice done has been fundamental to securing these convictions," she said, noting the defendants had failed to show the "slightest remorse".
Sharon Hubber, director of children’s services at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “Rochdale Borough Council is in a very different place to where it once was more than a decade ago, and our work to improve our safeguarding practice and our response to child sexual exploitation has been recognised in every Ofsted inspection since 2014.
“We will not be complacent however, and we remain committed to doing all that we can with our partners to protect and support victims and survivors.
“We also continue to provide a safe and supportive environment to anyone affected by non-recent abuse or exploitation to ensure people get the right support that they need.”