The United Kingdom collected an estimated £9.2 million in non-refundable visa application fees from Pakistani applicants whose visitor visa requests were ultimately refused.
According to available figures, more than 72,000 visitor visa applications from Pakistan were rejected during the reporting period. At the current application fee of £127, unsuccessful Pakistani applicants paid over £9.2 million equivalent to more than Rs3 billion despite not being granted visas.
Globally, the UK turned down more than 585,000 visitor visa applications over the same period. Based on the standard application fee, the British government retained an estimated £74 million from applicants whose visa requests were rejected.
The figures have sparked debate over the UK’s visa fee policy, with critics questioning the fairness of retaining substantial non-refundable application fees from applicants whose visas are ultimately denied.
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