As the UK faces new strikes by various public sector unions, the British Prime Minister has finally agreed to raise the salaries of teachers, police officers and doctors. During his speech on Thursday July 13, Rishi Sunak thus launched “his last offer” and called for an end to the mobilizations.
A way to finance salary increases for civil servants
To finance these wage increases, the head of government assured that there would be no new loans or tax increases. It will be in the pocket of future immigrants that the British State will seek the necessary funds. “We are going to significantly increase the fees for immigrants who come to (our) country when applying for visas as well as the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), a tax they pay to access the NHS”, detailed the Prime Minister during his speech. “It will bring in over £1 billion,” he added.
Citizenship application fees will increase by at least 20%, says government
The government has already confirmed an increase of 15 to more than 20% depending on the administrative immigration procedures. “The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) will thus increase to £1,035 (compared to £624 currently, editor’s note) and the reduced rate for students and those under 18 will increase to £776 (compared to £470 currently)”, thus detailed John Glen, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury of the United Kingdom before the House of Commons on Thursday July 13, before adding “this increase in the surtax will contribute to financing the salary increase for doctors”.
The fee for a citizenship application, which is already £1,330 today, will also be increased. “We will be raising fees on a range of immigration and nationality pathways, including for people coming here to live, work and study,” the Director of the Treasury insisted, “this specifically means that the cost of work visas and visit visas will increase by 15%, and the cost of study visas, certificates of sponsorship, permanent residence, citizenship, extended entry authorization, authorization to stay and priority visas of at least 20%”. The money recovered will have to be used, explained John Glen, to finance the increase in police salaries.
However, the effective date of all these changes has not yet been announced.
This article is originally published on london.frenchmorning.com
