Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK), has declared that the visa fee, including the health surcharge paid to the National Health Service (NHS) by visa applicants, will be raised soon in order to meet the country’s public sector wage increase.
According to the details, the Indian-origin PM was being pressured to accept the recommendation for independent assessment of the salaries of police, teachers, junior doctors, and other government employees. He has confirmed a raise of 5-7 percent across all departments.
Sunak, however, assured that this increase will not be fulfilled by further taxation, as it would worsen the inflation conditions in the country. Hence, the costs will be covered from somewhere else (visa fee).
Speaking during a presser at Downing Street, Sunak told reporters,
If we’re going to prioritize paying public sector workers more, that money has to come from somewhere else because I’m not prepared to put up people’s taxes and I don’t think it would be responsible or right to borrow more because that would just make inflation worse.
To cover this cost, he said that they identified two ways, which include the visa fees and Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), a levy paid by migrants to access NHS. According to Sunak, this will generate around GBP 1 billion.
Justifying the increase, he argued that the visa fees have not been raised in a long time, adding that it is also suitable in light of the recent overall cost increase.
In the coming months, the UK Home Office is scheduled to lay out the full details of which visa categories will face hikes and when the new higher prices will go into effect.
Source: Pro Pakistani