Outrageous Home Office profiteering must stop

Responding to the reports that the Home Office has had a £500 million surplus last year from charges levied for British residency and citizenship, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Ed Davey said:

“It is unacceptable for the Home Office to be profiteering from outrageously high application fees, which are far higher than the actual costs of administration.

“No one should be prevented from exercising their rights simply because they can’t afford these fees – especially children who have lived here all their lives and members of the Armed Forces who have served this country for years.

“People who are unable to pay the fees are left vulnerable to the Tories’ Hostile Environment and all the misery it causes.

“The Liberal Democrats demand better. We are calling on the Home Secretary to reduce the fees for children to the cost of administration, and to waive them altogether for members of the Armed Forces.”