At present there are appeal application fees to the First-Tier Immigration Tribunal for certain types of appeal of £140 for an oral hearing (ie a live hearing in front of a Judge) and £80 for a decision made “on the papers” (ie with no live hearing). These fees do not cover the real cost of hearings, and at present there are no fees for applications to the Upper Immigration Tribunal to challenge decisions made by the First-Tier Tribunal. If the Appellant is successful in their appeal case then the fee is reimbursed to them.
The Government is now proposing huge increases in immigration appeal fees. They propose increasing the First-Tier Tribunal appeal fees to £800 for an oral hearing and £490 for a decision on the papers. They also propose introducing a fee of £455 for an initial challenge to a First-Tier Tribunal decision (which could be refused), a fee of £350 for a renewal of an initial challenge to the Upper Tribunal (which could also be refused) and a fee of £510 for a hearing at the Upper Tribunal if permission has been granted to proceed.
This of course represents a huge increase and these figures are supposed to reflect the real cost of hearings.
If these increases really do happen a lot of potential appellants will undoubtedly think twice before appealing against adverse decisions.
