Solidarity Fund for immigration-related fees

Haringey Migrant Support Centre (HMSC) provides support, advice and casework to vulnerable migrants in London on immigration, welfare and housing issues.

While HMSC’s core work remains unchanged, the hostile environment is only becoming harsher and we are responding to our visitors changing needs. We are fundraising to offer urgent financial support to those of our visitors (clients) who cannot afford the fees to progress their immigration case.

Many of our visitors are trying to regularise their stay in the UK by applying for leave to remain. Others already have leave but need to renew it every 2.5 years (they are on the “10 years route to settlement”). Each application is a hurdle, the fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) are exorbitant and increasing every year.

Most of our visitors are destitute and ask for a fee waiver (a complex application) when applying to the Home Office. However, there are many circumstances in which people cannot get a fee waiver and must pay part or all of these fees despite being destitute. We have seen visitors defeated by these huge costs and therefore unable to regularise their status or to renew their leave, falling deeper into destitution, debt and street homelessness.

This Solidarity Fund will be used to cover costs such as:

• Home Office application fee and Immigration Health Surcharge (HIS) when a fee waiver is not possible despite the applicant being destitute (£3,635.50 for a single applicant for a “2.5 years leave to remain”);
• British passport application fee for a child, to prove their citizenship and allow their parent to make an application on this basis (£64 for an application by post);
• DNA test to prove paternity of a British father/mother in order to establish the child’s nationality (around £300);
• Passport (non-British) application fee if needed for a Home Office application (eg. £100 for a Ghanaian passport);
• Other legal fees required to progress an immigration case.

We are aiming to raise £10,000 over the next 3 months to build this Solidarity Fund. All the money will be used directly to pay for immigration-related fees for migrants in a desperate situation, thus having a life-changing impact.

We know that building power and caring for our communities through practical support is essential in fighting the hostile environment, but we can’t make this fund a possibility without your help. Please support us however you can.