To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the phoneline provided by UK Visas and Immigration for people to make inquiries about the status of their visa application is charged at £1.37 per minute on top of network charges; and what the average length of time is for people who call the line to wait on hold.
Answered on
17 July 2017
Customers are charged £1.37 per minute when calling from outside of the UK and from the point at which they are connected to an agent
For customers who are applying from within the UK, phone calls continue to be charged at the caller’s standard network rate only.
Our web site www.gov.uk is the main source of information and advice and is free of charge
The UK Government believes it is right that those who use and benefit directly from the UK immigration system make an appropriate contribution towards meeting the costs of the immigration system. Those who use the services from outside the UK are predominantly prospective customers and in many cases no application will be made and no application fee collected
Fees set by the Home Office for border, immigration and citizenship services are set at a level that partially funds the immigration system. The remainder is funded through general taxation
The average wait time for overseas callers was 1:51 between 1st June 2017 and 10 July 2017. A customer will only be charged for the time they spend connected to one of the customer service representatives.