Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether that spousal visa fee reflects the administrative cost of processing such applications in full; and what proportion of the fee represents (a) visa processing costs, (b) the Immigration Health Surcharge and (c) other charges or cross-subsidisation of the wider immigration and borders system.

Published unit costs for processing visa applications can be viewed on Gov.UK through the following link: Visa fees transparency data - GOV.UK. The estimated unit cost of a spousal visa is currently £426, the fee for a spouse visa application is £1407.

Fees for immigration and nationality applications are kept under review. The Home Office does not make a profit from fees and any income from fees set above the cost of processing is utilised for the purpose of running the Migration and Borders system, reducing reliance of taxpayer funding.

For a spouse visa, the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) is separate from the visa application fee, but both are paid as part of the application process.

The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) is set at £1,035 per person per year and is calculated based on the length of immigration permission granted. For a standard 30‑month spouse visa, applicants pay £2,587.50 for the IHS.