Dear Sir or Madam,

Please treat this submission as a request for a refund under the Immigration and Nationality Refunds Policy and as a complaint about the handling of a fee-drafting error affecting Student and Child Student entry clearance applicants.

I am writing to request a refund of [Add appropriate refund amount – either £127 / 161] relating to the Student / Child Student entry clearance fee I paid on [date of payment] in respect of my application with reference number [Add GWF or UAN reference number].

The fee I was charged was [Add appropriate fee amount – either £490 / 524]. The fee specified in law at the time of my application, at line 1.3.11A of Schedule 1 of the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/330), was £363. The two statutory instruments that the Home Office intended to use to uplift this fee – SI 2023/1004 and SI 2025/363 – purported to amend line 1.3.11, which had already been deleted from Schedule 1 in December 2020, rather than the operative line 1.3.11A. The statute book was therefore never updated during this period.

This is confirmed by the Home Office’s own subsequent amending instrument, the Immigration, Nationality and Passports (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/311), which on 8 April 2026 substituted £558 for £363 at line 1.3.11A – expressly recording £363 as the fee in force immediately before that date. As my application was made before 8 April 2026, the lawful fee that applied to it was £363.

This drafting error was identified by the House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, which drew the matter to the special attention of the House in its 57th Report of Session 2024–26.

The Immigration and Nationality Refunds Policy (version 13.0, published for Home Office caseworkers on 8 April 2026) sets out, under “General principle of refunds”, that the Home Office will refund an application fee where “an incorrect fee has been charged and paid to the Home Office” and where “there is no legal basis to keep the fee.” Both conditions are met in my case: the fee I was charged exceeded the fee specified in Schedule 1 of the 2018 Regulations, and there is no statutory basis on which the Home Office can retain the difference between £363 and the amount I paid.

My request is within the five-year window specified in the refunds policy, as payment was made on [date of payment] .

I therefore request a refund of [Add appropriate refund amount – either £127 / 161], being the amount paid in excess of the statutory fee. I would be grateful if you could confirm receipt, indicate when I can expect a response, and provide details of the refund method. In line with the published policy, I would expect the refund to be returned to the original method of payment.

If UKVI refuses this request, please provide a full written explanation addressing both the legal basis for refusing the refund and the maladministration issues raised by this complaint. Those issues include the drafting error itself, the failure to proactively identify and notify affected applicants, the absence of a clear refund process, and the failure to provide an adequate remedy for affected students.

Yours faithfully,

[Add your name]