Fee Waiver Applications

Who Can Ask for a Fee Waiver

Most in-country applications for permission to stay carry a Home Office fee and usually the Immigration Health Surcharge; amounts are on the GOV.UK visa fees page. Where requiring payment before a human rights application is considered would breach your rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, the Home Office can waive the fee, the surcharge, or both.

The caseworker guidance covers these in-country applications:

• the 5-year partner route where the sponsor gets a specified disability or carer's benefit
• the 5-year parent route and the 5-year private life route
• the 10-year partner route, the 10-year parent route and the 10-year private life route
• applications based on other Convention rights
• further permission for people with discretionary leave after a protection refusal, where they claim refusal would breach their Convention rights
• permission to stay for a child under Appendix CNP (with a non-parent relative)

GOV.UK puts it more simply: partners, parents and dependent children on a family or private life route, people refused asylum or humanitarian protection holding discretionary leave or leave outside the rules on human rights grounds, and victims of modern slavery or trafficking with permission to stay.

The human rights claim must be a substantive basis of the application, not a passing mention. No fee is charged for an Article 3 application, whether for protection or on medical grounds, or for a child in local authority care. A fee is also not required where an Article 8 claim is raised at the same time as a protection claim, in immigration detention, or in an appeal, because paragraph GEN.1.9 of Appendix FM and PL 1.3 of Appendix Private Life waive the requirement to make a valid application in those cases. From 8 October 2026 families who have been notified that they are entering the Family Returns Process can give an Article 8 claim directly to Home Office staff without a fee, a specified form or a valid application. Applications from outside the UK follow a separate process.

The Affordability Test

The caseworker guidance says a fee waiver must be granted where you credibly show that you cannot afford the fee and the surcharge, or the surcharge alone. You are unable to pay when you, and the household members you rely on, do not have enough left after essential living needs and any child's needs. You do not have to be destitute.

Essential living needs cover housing, bills, food, clothing, toiletries, non-prescription medication and cleaning items, plus keeping up relationships and a reasonable social, cultural and religious life. GOV.UK's three situations are: no home and no means to afford one; a home but not the essentials such as food or heating; or a very low income where paying would harm your child's wellbeing.

The caseworker looks at the whole household: housing costs, income, surplus after essentials, savings, assets that could reasonably be sold, funds given away and non-essential spending. A partner's income and assets count. A close family member who supports you, such as a parent or adult child, will generally be expected to help and to show their finances.

If you can pay the fee but not the surcharge, the fee is required and the surcharge waived; one person's fee cannot be split, but a waiver can be granted for some dependants and refused for others.

Evidence and Common Problems

The onus is on you. The guidance expects bank statements for every account covering the six months before the request, with all major (over £250) and regular payments explained, plus payslips or self-employment records, benefit evidence, tenancy and utility bills, and letters from anyone who supports you. If a document cannot be provided, explain why.

Problems the guidance links to refusal:

• unexplained transfers or payments over £250, which the caseworker may treat as unreliable evidence
• money given away, debts repaid early or non-essential purchases, which the guidance lists as intentional disposal of funds
• spending listed as non-essential: holidays, private school fees, private medical treatment, second homes and excessive legal fees
• an early request, more than three months before permission expires, where you may be expected to save from surplus income
• income from work without permission: it must still be disclosed, it counts as income or savings, and the Home Office will tell you that you may be committing an offence and must stop working

The Home Office can check with HMRC, the DWP and credit agencies, and a false or incomplete account can lead to refusal of this or a future application. Where a child is affected, section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 makes their wellbeing a primary consideration, and the guidance says a waiver must be granted where clear evidence shows paying would leave a child's needs unmet.

How the Fee Waiver Process Works

1. We confirm the scheme covers your intended application and fix the route, because the application that follows must be on it.
2. We assess affordability first, so you know whether a full waiver, a surcharge-only waiver or payment is realistic.
3. We assemble the six-month financial bundle and explain every unusual payment, with partner or supporter evidence where the guidance expects it.
4. The request goes in online through the GOV.UK fee waiver service with your identity document uploaded, including any dependants applying with you.
5. Where evidence is missing or unclear the Home Office should normally ask for it before deciding, warning that the waiver is refused if you do not respond; we respond in time.
6. If granted, the decision carries a code (a token or unique reference number). Submit the application within 10 working days, counted from the date on the decision itself, then book your biometrics appointment straight away: GOV.UK says you must attend within 17 working days of being asked to book, while the caseworker guidance requires the appointment to be made within 17 working days of the fee waiver decision, and missing either can invalidate the code.
7. If refused there is no reconsideration, but a fresh request can be made; otherwise the application proceeds with payment, and any later refusal is handled under visa refusals and appeals.

The 10 Working Day Rule and Section 3C Leave

Under paragraph 34G of the Immigration Rules, an online application that follows a fee waiver request is treated as made on the date the request was submitted, provided the completed application is submitted within 10 working days of receiving the decision. The Home Office caseworker guidance measures the same 10 working days from the date of the fee waiver decision rather than the date you receive it, so the safe course is always to count from the date on the decision letter or email.

That date matters when your permission expires while the request is pending. The caseworker guidance says you benefit from section 3C leave, whether the request is granted or refused, if you held valid permission when the request was submitted, you make a valid application within the 10 working days, and it is the application the request was made for. Valid means the fee and Immigration Health Surcharge have been paid or waived, so where the request was refused only a paid application inside the window will do; a second fee waiver request inside the window does not extend it. See our page on section 3C leave.

Statement of Changes HC 584, published on 3 September 2026, substitutes a new paragraph 34G(4) and adds a new paragraph 34G(5), both from 8 October 2026. The application which follows must be on the route named in the fee waiver request, and a paid application on that route made before the decision also keeps the request date. An application on any other route takes its own submission date, which the explanatory memorandum says targets human rights applications varied to a non-human rights route to extend section 3C leave. Applications made before 8 October 2026 are decided under the earlier rules.

When Legal Advice Is Especially Important

Advice matters most where:

• your permission expires within weeks and the request and application must be sequenced to keep section 3C leave
• a partner, parent or friend supports you and it is unclear whose finances will be examined
• your statements show cash income, transfers between accounts or a recent large payment that needs explaining
• you receive asylum support or local authority support, which is not proof on its own where you have other income or assets
• a request has been refused and you are deciding whether to pay, reapply or wait

How RakLAW Solicitors Can Help

We prepare fee waiver requests as part of the human rights and private life applications we handle at 42 Shad Thames in Southwark, near Tower Bridge, and we say honestly whether the evidence supports a waiver.

After the decision we lodge the application inside the 10 working day window on the route named in the request, whether a private life application, a family life application or another human rights application. RakLAW does not offer legal aid; our charges are on the immigration fees page, the first 15 minute consultation is free, and you can call 0203 345 2000 or book an appointment.