Government makes £5bn a year from immigration fees while applicants are forced into debt
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026-09-15/home-office-makes-5bn-a-year-from-immigration-fees-while-applicants-are-forced-into-debt
32 points · 4 comments · view on lemmy.world
4 Comments
danielquinn@lemmy.ca · 14 pts · 3d
Yeah the fees are no joke. Moving here 10 years ago the fees came to around €5k the first year and there were additional exorbitant fees at the 2.5 year and 5 year mark. I can only assume the rates are higher now.
Another fun fact about the process is that the forms they ask you to fill out are intentionally hard to understand and surrounded by warnings that your application will be auto-rejected if even one field is wrong. They then direct you to a list of private companies that claim to fill out the application for you, to avoid such a negative outcome.
Everyone comes away from this process with the understanding that it's a scam designed to enrich some a bunch of companies.
ICastFist@programming.dev · 1 pts · 2d
Many years ago, ~2015, I applied for a Canadian work visa. I probably used a company site without knowing, as I got a phone call 2 weeks later with a dude trying to talk me into paying the company he represented to ensure i'd get the visa and everything would be fine, trust me bro. Immigration with a 3rd party like this feels shady as fuck, like, what are you even supposed to do if they don't fulfill their end?
Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 3d
Oh hey that just happened to me lol
FishFace@piefed.social · 2 pts · 3d
For these kind of visa routes, migration is an investment.