This guide is for anyone appealing a Home Office decision to refuse their visa or immigration application. It explains:

• what the fees are
• when you do not need to pay
• how to get help to pay or reduce your fee
• how refunds and fee awards are paid

It does not explain the appeal process. Find out how to appeal against a visa or immigration decision.

About the fees

Most appeals in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) have a fee. The amount you pay depends on how you would like your appeal to be decided:

• £80 without a hearing – a judge decides your appeal on the information and evidence you send to the tribunal
• £140 with a hearing – a judge decides your appeal at a hearing that you can attend

Online appeals

You can pay your fee with a credit or debit card when you make your appeal online. If you cannot use the online service, include your details on your paper appeal form.

It does not have to be your own credit or debit card. Someone else can pay on your behalf.

Paper form appeals

The tribunal will contact you to tell you how to pay once it has received your appeal form.

When you do not need to pay

In some circumstances, you do not need to pay the appeal fee – these are called ‘exemptions’.

You do not need to pay if you are appealing a decision:

• to take away your British Citizenship (this is known as ‘deprivation of citizenship’)
• to take away your refugee status (this is known as ‘revocation of protection status’)
• where you’ve been detained by the Home Office and your decision letter was sent by the Detained Asylum Casework or Detained Immigration Appeals team (DAC or DIA)

Your Home Office decision letter should include the type of decision you’re appealing.

You also do not need to pay if:

• you get asylum support from the Home Office
• you get legal aid
• you are under 18 and get benefits or housing from your local council under a children act or order, or the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014
• you have parental responsibility of a person under 18 that gets benefits or housing from the local council under a children act or order, or the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014
• the Home Office waived the fee for your application to them to protect your convention rights under the Human Rights Act 1998 (exception 4.5 or 9.4 of the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations 2016 (PDF, 238KB, 40 pages))

You should provide a copy of the letter confirming your asylum support, legal aid, benefits or Home Office waiver when you submit your appeal.

Get help with the fee

You may be able to get help to pay all or part of the fee if you:

• receive certain other benefits
• have little or no savings
• are on a low income

You can apply for help with fees online. You will be given a help with fees reference number, which you will need for your online appeal application.

If you cannot use the online service, you can complete a paper help with fees form and include this when you send your paper appeal application.

You may be asked for evidence to support your application for help with fees.

A legal representative or litigation friend can apply on your behalf.

If you are not in the UK at the time of submitting your appeal, you cannot apply for help with fees.

If you have already paid the appeal fee, you may be able to apply for help with fees if you:

• apply within 3 months of paying the fee
• were eligible for help with fees at the time you paid

Apply to cancel or reduce the fee

If you do not qualify for an exemption or help with fees, you may still be able to apply to cancel or reduce the fee. This is called an ‘exceptional circumstances remission’.

You can only apply if you:

• are not realistically able to pay
• have taken reasonable steps to get alternative funding – for example, sponsorship to enter or remain in the UK
• can demonstrate other exceptional circumstances

You will need to apply in writing, providing evidence of your inability to pay or the exceptional circumstances. Evidence could include:

• details of your income and savings
• information about your housing situation and other costs
• your employment or education status
• proof of legal action being taken against you for non-payment of bills or housing costs
• other relevant information that demonstrates exceptional circumstances

All your evidence will be considered. However, you will not automatically qualify for fee cancellation or reduction if you are unemployed, a student or a prisoner.

Your application and evidence must be written in English or translated if written in another language. The figures you provide for your income, saving and expenses must be in pound sterling, or converted to sterling if in a different currency.

Sign and date your written application and confirm that all the information you provide is true. You may be prosecuted if you make a knowingly false claim.

Only you can sign your application. You can only sign on someone else’s behalf if they are a child or they lack capacity.

If you are using the online service and are legally represented, your solicitor or immigration adviser will be able to submit your application at the same time as issuing your appeal.

If you are not represented, send your application and evidence to:

We will aim to respond to your application within 14 days of receiving it.

If your application is not granted, you may appeal the decision. We will only reconsider your application once – if it is not granted again, we will consider the matter closed.

Your fee award or refund

There are 3 ways that you may receive a full or part repayment of the appeal fee:

• a fee award
• a repayment if the Home Office withdraws its refusal
• a refund

Fee awards

A fee award is when your appeal has been successful and a judge has ordered the Home Office to pay you back. It is paid by the Home Office but may appear on your bank statement as paid by HMCTS.

It is usually paid back to the credit or debit card used to make the fee payment. If someone else paid your fee, please contact them to confirm their card is still valid ahead of repayment.

If you do not get your fee award after 60 days, email appealsfeesenquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk.

Include the following information:

• your Home Office reference number
• your appeal reference number
• the date of the tribunal decision

Home Office withdrawal

The Home Office may withdraw its refusal of your original visa or immigration application. This might be because you have provided further evidence since it made the initial decision.

However, if you feel the Home Office have withdrawn because of an error in its initial refusal decision, you can email appealsfeesenquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk to discuss this.

You will need to set out your reasons clearly and may be able to discuss repayment of your appeal fee.

Refunds

You might receive a refund if, for example:

• we have taken payment in error
• you paid for the appeal but then successfully applied to cancel or reduce the fee
• you paid for a hearing but the tribunal decided that your appeal could be dealt with on the information and evidence you sent

In the third example, you may receive a payment of £60, which is the difference between the 2 fees.

Refunds are considered on a case-by-case basis and paid by HMCTS.

Refunds are usually paid back to the credit or debit card used to make the fee payment. If someone else paid your fee, please contact them to confirm their card is still valid ahead of repayment. If payment cannot be paid back to the card, you must provide us with bank account details for a money transfer.

If you have a question about the payment of a refund, please contact us:

Telephone

0300 123 1711
Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm

Find out about call charges

Email

iapaymentexceptions@justice.gov.uk

We aim to respond within 3 working days.