LONDON, Nov 4: The British government is publicly debating a new visa charging regime that will make life of incoming students relatively hassle-free, but for those coming in for work, it is expected to carry a higher price tag.

Under the proposed revised scheme, the administrative burden to collect fees will transfer from the Home Office’s Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) to sponsors, for a student this means the university; for workers their employer.

It could possibly mean higher charges for those entering the UK on a work permit. For students, it may mean a more simplified regime, incorporating two charges into one, administered by their university (hence the “one-stop-shop”).

However, any increase in fees is likely to be met with opposition as they were only increased last year, and that increase, it was felt, did not raise Home Office standards of service received by migrants.

The aim of the proposed regime is to reduce bureaucracy and speed up the visa process. For example, rather than students paying tuition fees to universities and visa fees through the IND, visa fees may be incorporated in the total cost of university fees, and therefore the overall responsibility of visa fee collection will be placed upon the university.

Currently visa fees only covers administrative costs (i.e. officials processing the application), but according to new proposal, the treasury are currently doubling the immigration enforcement budget to £100m, and what better way than to increase the charge for visas.

Therefore, the proposed new migrant fees will not only cover administrative costs, but also contribute to the immigration enforcement budget (this includes raids, deportations and other implementation policies).

The government is actually investigating how the UK economy can benefit from migrants; they are examining ways to increasing revenue for the UK economy, reducing bureaucracy and simplifying the current regime

One way of doing so will be to increase immigration charges (visa fees) or applying a “surcharge” depending on whether the visa is for a student or a worker and the likely value/benefit to each applicant.

One example of this is: Would-be foreign nationals who gain access to the UK labour market and gain benefits through employment should pay higher fees as they profit from the economy, whereas students do not. Thus, the new pricing system will depend on the type of applicant and the benefits they are likely to receive whilst residing in the UK.