The risks of making a fee waiver application for the purpose of “buying time” to make a different application

In some cases, if you cannot afford to pay the fee for your immigration or nationality application, or if paying the fee would result in the needs of a child not being met, you can request a fee waiver.

In this post we explain the variety of reasons that it is a very bad idea to submit a fee waiver application purely for the purpose of getting section 3C leave, with no eligibility for or intention of making the subsequent immigration application mentioned in the fee waiver application. The consequences of doing this are likely to be very severe for both the applicants. This can include imprisonment.

Fee waiver applications are currently subject to a huge backlog and serious delays, with the Home Office taking several months to process them. Not everyone is entitled to a fee waiver, for example, if they are intending to apply under the skilled worker route, as this route does not have a fee waiver available.

Some people who are facing the end of their leave without currently having an option for extending (for example they are hoping to move into the skilled worker route but don’t yet have a job offer) may be tempted to take advantage of those delays. People may think that they can buy themselves several months while the fee waiver is pending and then spend that time getting into a position where they are able to make that extension application. This is very unlikely to work.

The rest of the form then needs to be filled out with financial and other information and evidence to support the request for the fee waiver.

The form makes it clear that if false information is given, the consequences can be serious, including prosecution. Consequences can apply not just to the applicant, but also to anyone assisting them with the application.

First of all, the extent to which an actual chronological queue is being operated for fee waiver applications is unclear. This means that it is not possible to predict how long it will actually take for the Home Office to make a decision on the application and there is no guarantee that doing this will “buy” enough time for the applicant to arrange an application into another route. 

Even if the Home Office caseworker does not pick up the issue with the use of the fee waiver application in this application and  is granted further permission as a skilled worker with the new sponsor, the risk of the Home Office discovering the use of deception will remain a live one, as there is permission to be cancelled.

Section 24A of the Immigration Act 1971 provides that a person who is not a British citizen and who uses deception to to get (or try to get) leave to remain will be committing a criminal offence.