Headline

UK Hikes Student’s Visa To N476,667, Raises Fee For Visitors

Published

8 months ago

September 16, 2023

Editor

Visit visa to the United Kingdom for less than six months will now cost £115 (about N111,878.28 ) as opposed to £100 (97,197.90) effective October 4, the UK Home Office has announced.

This translates to about 15 per cent increment, according to The PUNCH can confirm.

Student visa fee has also been increased by £127 (N123,537.58) to £490 (N476,677.59); representing a 34.9 per cent increment.

The increase, the government said, would enable it to pay for ‘vital services and allow more funding to be prioritised for public sector pay rises’, adding that the review would take effect on October 4.

The UK government made this known in a statement, ‘New visa fees set to come into effect next month’ published on its website, gov.uk, on Friday, following legislation being laid in parliament on Friday.

“The changes mean that the cost for a visit visa for less than six months is rising by £15 (N14,592.70) to £115 (N111,878.28 ), while the fee for applying for a student visa from outside the UK will rise by £127 (N123,537.58) to £490 (N476,677.59), to equal the amount charged for in-country applications,” the statement partly read.

In July, the government announced a 15 per cent increase in the cost of most work and visit visas, and an increase of at least 20 per cent in the cost of priority visas, study visas and certificates of sponsorship.

The statement added, “Income from fees charged plays a vital role in the Home Office’s ability to run a sustainable immigration and nationality system. Careful consideration is given when setting fees to help reduce the funding contribution from British taxpayers, whilst continuing to provide a service that remains attractive to those wishing to work in the UK and support broader prosperity for all.”

The changes, according to checks by The PUNCH, include fees for up to six months, two-, five- and 10-year visit visas.

The majority of fees for entry clearance and certain applications for leave to remain in the UK, including those for work and study were also increased.

Also increased were the fees for indefinite leave to enter and indefinite leave to remain; convention travel document and stateless person’s travel document; health and care visa; fees in relation to certificates of sponsorship and confirmation of acceptance for studies; the in and out of country fee for the super-priority service and the out of country fee for the priority service.

It noted that the settlement priority service would reduce so it would be aligned with the cost of using the priority service. Applications to register and naturalise as a British citizen and the fee for the service were also increased.

However, the statement noted that subject to parliamentary approval, the immigration and nationality fees would increase from October 4.

“Today’s changes do not include the planned increase to the Immigration Health Surcharge, which is scheduled to be introduced later in the Autumn,” it added.

Headline

JUST IN: ICC Prosecutor Seeks Arrest Warrants For Netanyahu, Hamas Leaders

Published

26 mins ago

May 20, 2024

Editor

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas’s leader in Gaza for war crimes.

According to BBC, Karim Khan said there were reasonable grounds to believe that both men bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity from at least 7 October 2023.

The ICC, based in The Hague, has been investigating Israel’s actions in the occupied territories for the past three years – and more recently the actions of Hamas as well.

Mr Netanyahu recently called the prospect of senior Israel figures joining the ICC’s wanted list “an outrage of historic proportions”.

Last week, 13 Western countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy, Japan and others cautioned Israel over its resolve to launch a full-scale operation in Rafah.

Headline

BREAKING: Nnamdi Kanu Loses Fresh Battle On Bail, Removal From DSS Custody

Published

45 mins ago

May 20, 2024

Editor

Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the request by the detained leader of the Biafra nation agitators, Nnamdi Kanu for the restoration of his revoked bail and the removal from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) to a house arrest or prison custody.

The Judge on Monday said that the same request had been brought before her by Kanu but was dismissed for want of merit.

In a ruling on Kanu’s request, Justice Nyako said that she found as a fact that Kanu jumped the bail earlier granted him and escaped out of the country.

The Judge also held that the sureties who stood for him in the earlier bail had applied to be discharged and had been discharged on the ground that they could not locate Kanu and did not know his whereabouts.

Justice Nyako said that the only option left for Kanu was to go to the Court of Appeal and exercise his right of appeal.

The Judge disagreed with Kanu’s lead counsel that the Supreme Court held that the earlier bail granted him ought not to have been revoked, adding that she had perused the Supreme Court judgment copy and did not see the claim of the lawyer.

DAILY POST reports that as of the time of this report, Kanu is shouting on top of his voice, insisting not to stand trial before any court in Nigeria.

He is claiming that any attempt to put him on trial would amount to a breach of Nigeria’s Constitution and the international laws.

Details later…

Headline

Iran Declares 5 Days Of Mourning Over President Raisi’s Death

Published

1 hour ago

May 20, 2024

Editor

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced on Monday five days of mourning for President Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash.

“I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran,” said Khamenei in an official statement a day after the death of Raisi and other officials in the crash in East Azerbaijan province.

President Raisi died on Monday after his helicopter crashed in a mountainous region of the country.

Raisi was travelling with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian who also died in the accident.

Rescue teams had been scouring the area since Sunday afternoon after a helicopter carrying Raisi, the foreign minister and other officials had gone missing.

Early Monday, relief workers located the missing helicopter, with state TV saying the president had died.

“The servant of Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has achieved the highest level of martyrdom whilst serving the people,” state television said Monday, with Mehr news agency also saying he was dead.

State television broadcast photos of Raisi, with the voice of a man reciting the Koran playing in the background.

Iran’s vice president for executive affairs Mohsen Mansouri posted on X a Koranic verse used to express condolences.