- Conference
- 2024 National Higher Education Conference
- Date
- 12 October 2023
- Decision
- Carried
This conference notes that:
On the 15th of September 2023, the House of Commons published a research briefing which explains that visas and related fees have risen significantly above inflation and above processing costs. Then, on the 18th of September, the Home Office officially announced 15-35% rises to visa fees, which took effect on the 4th of October, and a future 66% rise to the Immigration and Health Surcharge (a fee which migrants pay upfront for each year of their visa to fund the NHS in addition to their taxes) as a way to fund public sector pay rises.
While everyone can agree that the public sector needs pay rises, the planned increases to migrant fees are a political choice to pit workers against each other. The IPPR spelled out several progressive tax options available to the government to fund public sector pay rises without impacting inflation that do not involve robbing one group to pay another. UNISON condemned the planned increases in July, as we have seen the impact of the already extortionately high fees, and essentially double taxation, on members, especially those at universities with already tightening purse strings.
The total upfront costs for visas in the UK in 2021 was higher than the 17 countries rated highest for research excellence, according to a study by Fragomen and the Royal Society. The biggest upfront cost component is the Immigration Health Surcharge, which costs applicants £624 pounds per year of their visa in 2021 (£3120 for a five-year visa). The proposed increase set to take place sometime before the summer of 2024 will mean that that same person would have to pay £5,175 for the health surcharge – before adding on the increased cost of the actual visa.
This conference believes that:
Although migrant staff in all sectors will be affected, which is why sixty-eight trade unions from the BMA, the GMB, and the UCU have signed a joint Trade Union and Migrant Org Statement #TogetherAgainstCharging, students and Higher Education staff will be deeply affected whether they are the ones facing a higher visa cost, or not. According to HESA data on Higher Education staff, in 2020/2021, 32% of academic staff were non-UK nationals, and 12% of non-academic staff were non-UK nationals.
There are implications for university finances which have potential knock-on effects for all university staff and students, as International Student Fees are projected to make up 25% of HE provider total income. As fees become prohibitive to potential students, university budgets may need to tighten accordingly. Additionally, there has been a 19% increase in the cost to the university to sponsor international students and certificates of sponsorship for skilled workers have gone up by 20%, which will have a direct and immediate impact on university budgets and forecasts.
Even where the university does not pay these costs directly, there are concerns from the research and Higher Education sector that the fees will level down the UK and have a detrimental effect on the HE sector as a whole, especially given the disproportionate impact the fees have on students looking to take up the graduate route and early career scholars.
Finally, the migrants on the long route to citizenship, called the 10-year route, are the most likely to be hardest hit by these increases, and are likely to be taking up short-term research contracts on the graduate route, after years of studying in the UK, all of which do not count towards shorter routes to citizenship. Although migrants not currently in the UK could decide not to migrate because of the high costs, for the thousands of those already in the UK who call it their home, leaving is not an option.
Therefore, this conference instructs UNISON Higher Education Service Group Executive to:
1)Publicly lobby the government to:
i)abandon these plans to increase the IHS fees.
ii)reduce visa fees to the cost of processing them.
iii)eliminate the 10-year route in favour of a 5-year route to indefinite leave to remain for any visa type.
2)urgently raise the issue with UNISON’s National Executive Council
3)Promote the ‘We are Here’ Campaign by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants.
4)Take this motion to the National Delegate Conference.