Dear all,

This is a passionate plea to the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, all Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs, all trade unions and the amazing family oriented people of the United Kingdom. 

As a long term migrant, close friend and neighbour to several migrants here in the UK, I see on a daily basis the financial struggles migrants face, just like the rest of the nation due to the cost of living crisis.

New migrants mostly work in entry level jobs with very low levels of pay. Within two to three years, they are expected to have saved huge immigration application costs and the additional immigration health surcharge. These are hard-working individuals who, just like the rest of the nation, contribute significantly to the economy by paying their taxes. Yet, they are significantly burdened with an extra 'double tax' in the form of an immigration health surcharge. This is a hurdle many can hardly overcome, considering the skyrocketing cost of living. 

A typical family of four or five will be faced with a Leave to Remain application fee that the past Conservative government made unaffordable and downright punitive. These costs went from being lower for children and sometimes spousal dependants to being the same for all applicants, regardless of age. Add the immigration health surcharge that started as a £200 yearly contribution by the Coalition government of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, and these families face a cost of £9,314 for a family of four or £13,194 for a family of five for a three-year visa not including the already unaffordable application fee. I am convinced the Liberal Democrats never saw this coming when they first agreed to the surcharge. The Conservative government has since turned it into one to impoverish migrant families.

It is clearly unimaginable that a family of four or five could save £9,314 or £13,194 while working in a low-paid job within two to three years of starting a new life in the United Kingdom. This is why it is safe to say this surcharge is a punitive one by the Conservative government. It is time for the new Labour government (and the Liberal Democrats who were essentially used against their best wishes) to save these families, especially their children from poverty as parents choose to either feed their children or pay this fee.

I believe this situation is far from fair. Our NHS was built around the principles of being free at the point of use and being based on clinical need, not on one's ability to pay. I argue that migrants already residing and paying taxes in the UK are already contributing to the healthcare system and should therefore not be subjected to a 'double-tax'.

It's important to remember the contributions of these migrants to the UK. In 2019, for example, HM Revenue and Customs reported that immigrants contributed £23 billion more in taxes than they received back in benefits. (Source: University College London study)

As such, this petition is an urgent call to reform the immigration health surcharge. We request that migrants, already employed and paying taxes in the UK, be exempted from the immigration health surcharge. The charge should only be applicable to migrants who are applying from abroad for the first time.

Despite the above, I understand that supporters of this surcharge would argue that migrants need to contribute to healthcare outside of their tax contributions. I would thus suggest that as a matter of last resort, government should consider its statutory obligation under Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 which makes it a legal requirement for the Home Office to consider the welfare of children in the UK when carrying out its functions. This includes functions related to immigration, asylum, and nationality. I am therefore suggesting that as a worst case scenario, children of migrants already in the UK should not be subjected to paying the immigration health surcharge to ensure they are not thrown into poverty because of their parents who cannot afford to pay this surcharge. This is in the best interest of the children ensuring parents do not have to choose between feeding them or paying the surcharge.

This reasoning is backed up by the increasing number of migrant families already resident and paying taxes in the UK who are applying for 5-year visas and facing this huge cost. For a family of five, this amounts to £21,990 just to pay the immigration health surcharge without which they cannot submit a Leave To Remain application. This cost is simply out of the reach of over 95% of migrant families however the supporters of this surcharge wish to explain it.

Show your support for a fairer and more equitable society by signing this petition. It's time for change.