Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of means-testing the spouse visa fee.

Immigration and nationality fees are kept under review and we ensure they are within the parameters agreed with HM Treasury and Parliament, as set out in Section 68 (9) of the Immigration Act 2014. Full details can be reviewed via the following link:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/22/section/68.

These include the cost of processing the application, the wider cost of running the migration, borders and citizenship system and the benefits which are likely to accrue from a successful application.