Migrants handed £96m in visa fee waivers since Labour took office as 76,000 charges scrapped

Migrants have been handed £96million in visa fee waivers since Labour took power, as a whopping 76,000 charges were scrapped, it has emerged.

Each waiver is said to be worth up to almost £4,000 per adult, comprising a £1,407 application fee and a £2,587 NHS surcharge.

While not every applicant has the NHS surcharge waived, the dropped charges have been found to come to at least £96.2million, analysis by The Sun showed.

In the first three months of 2026, some 33,737 people applied to avoid paying the fee, the highest number in a single quarter, the data revealed.

In the final quarter of 2023, half the number made the same request (13,669).

Between April and June, another 33,393 submitted an application.

To dodge paying the visa charge, applicants must prove they would be left unable to afford food or accommodation if they paid.

Equally, individuals can prove that paying could harm a child or their well-being.

Now, due to the influx, civil servants are struggling to handle the record number of applications.

But only 478 of the 33,737 applications were processed on time.

Meanwhile, some 50,257 fee-dodging migrants are awaiting their applications to be processed and to reach a conclusion.

In the first 18 months of Labour's time in Government, 70,916 waivers were doled out to applicants, jumping up by 57 per cent in the final year and a half of the Tories' time in Whitehall.

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Shabana Mahmood's department does not break down the figures by nationality.

The Home Office told The Sun that it did not recognise the figures above, further saying that the waiver acceptance rate was lower than under the Tories.

They said the figure was continuing to fall.

But across the pond, Donald Trump has taken a strong stance on visa applications, halting all immigrant visa applications in his bid to bolster US national security.

The State Department said it paused operations to launch a global training initiative at all US embassies and consulates worldwide.

The new "in-depth" training aims to ensure visa applicants are evaluated "comprehensively and consistently", but Washington did not provide further details.

The pause is also intended to prevent foreign nationals from becoming reliant on US tax-funded handouts.

A State Department spokesman said: "A more prosperous America means ensuring that visa applicants are not likely to become a public charge, as defined under US law and regulation, and not likely to become dependent on US public benefits reserved for qualified Americans in need."

GB News has approached the Home Office for further comment.