21 October 2010 Last updated at 10:45 ET

Immigrants to be charged for appeals

The MoJ said the new fees will save about £29m a year Immigrants and asylum seekers will have to pay for appeals against decisions made over their cases, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said.

Fees will apply to appeals against decisions refusing someone leave to remain, leave to enter, or vary their current leave to remain in the UK.

The fees will initially be between £60 and £250, some people will be exempted.

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants said immigrants already contribute through application fees.

Fast track

The MoJ said last year it cost £115m to run the immigration appeals system.

A Tribunals Service spokesman said the new charges were expected to claw back some 25% of these running costs.

The precise amounts would be subject to the outcome of consultation but were expected to be about £125 for oral hearings and £65 for paper hearings, he said.

Onward appeals to the upper tribunal would cost in the region of £250, the spokesman added.

People who will be excluded from paying a fee are those who qualify for legal aid, those who are receiving asylum support and applicants who are in the asylum "detained fast track" process.

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Applicants should not be penalised for this particularly given that their appeals will often concern matters of life and death and other fundamental rightsâ€