Overseas Students (Visa Charges) (Hansard, 17 November 2003)

§ Mr. Brady
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of overseas pupils attending boarding schools in the United Kingdom who will be required to pay visa charges under new regulations. [133935]

§ Beverley Hughes
No figures are available for the number of boarding school children who will be required to pay for applications for leave to remain in the United Kingdom following the introduction of charging for leave to remain which was introduced on 1 August 2003.
The cost of an application for leave to remain in the United Kingdom is £155 if sent by post or £250 if lodged in person.

§ Mr. Brady
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of overseas pupils attending boarding schools in the United Kingdom who will miss a period of school due to delays in granting visas. [133936]

§ Beverley Hughes
Student entry clearance applications do not allow us to differentiate those attending boarding schools from others. Globally, over 90 per cent. of all straightforward applications were processed within 24 hours in the financial year 2002–03. By their nature applications from boarding school students are straightforward in most cases.
UK visas has not received any complaints that students have missed school due to delays in processing entry clearance applications.

§ Mr. Cousins
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the additional charges for overseas student visas contain an element for cost recovery for the past costs of administering such visas in accordance with Treasury guidance. [136540]

§ Beverley Hughes
The fees are set under Treasury rules to recover the full administrative cost entailed in considering applications and no more. This is calculated taking the overall costs of processing applications for one year divided by the number of decisions we expect to make.
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Treasury guidelines state that the only actual costs may be recovered.
The costs of dealing with applications which do not attract a fee cannot be recovered from fee paid for applications.
Treasury rules require the Immigration and Nationality Directorate to carry out an annual fee review.

§ Mr. Brady
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the statement by the Under-Secretary of State of 22 October 2003,Official Report, column 311 WH, on visa charges, what discretion his Department has in interpreting Treasury rules on the setting of charges for visas for overseas students. [134907]

§ Beverley Hughes
There are no plans to increase student visa fees at this time. However, visa fees are kept under review and may be increased in order to ensure that the entry clearance operation recovers its full costs.
The fees for leave to remain applications are set under Treasury rules to recover the full administrative cost entailed in considering applications and no more. This is calculated by taking the overall costs of processing applications divided by the number of decisions we expect to make. This is the same method used to calculate the costs of entry clearance/visa fees. There is a scale of fees for entry clearance depending on the type of visa being applied for. We were unable to introduce differential charging for leave to remain applications, as our current accounting structure does not allow for this. Consultation would not have changed this. However, this is not to close off the potential for differential charging in the future and we will again consider this when charges are reviewed.
Fees and charges for statutory services are set in accordance with Treasury guidelines.

§ Mr. Lansley
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Minister of State will reply to the letter of 17 September from the General Secretary of the Independent Schools Council concerning visa charges for school pupils. [133070]

§ Beverley Hughes
A reply to Alistair Cooke's letter of 17 September was sent on 20 October.

§ Mr. Lansley
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when, and by what means, he advertised the introduction of visa charges for overseas pupils attending United Kingdom schools. [133071]

§ Beverley Hughes
[holding answer 20 October 2003]Theconcept of charging has been in the public domain for some time since it was debated during the passage of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary further stated his intention to charge in the White Paper: "Secure Borders, Safe Haven: Integration with Diversity in Modern Britain" published on 7 February 2000.
The day the regulations were laid (10 July) there was a public announcement by way of a Press Release; information was available on the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) Website and a leaflet `Information about New Charges' was available to customers by post and in the Public Enquiry Offices. The leaflet was also sent to IND stakeholders.