Urge the UK government to support the #OutOfTheLoop campaign
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About We Belong and #OutOfTheLoop
We Belong is the only UK-wide charity run by young migrants who have grown up in the UK. We are a group of ambitious, hardworking young people proud to call the UK home.
We are working to raise awareness about the impact of spiralling Home Office fees and the financial burden it places on young migrants as well as the toll it takes on our mental health during a cost-of-living crisis. With these conditions, we cannot afford our settlement applications and must remain in a loop of temporary status.
Background
In the last parliamentary term, the Home Office reduced the route to settled status from 10 years to five for young people in our position. However, this progress was undermined by a subsequent hike in the cost of each limited leave to remain application.
This year, young migrants applying for limited leave to remain will pay up to £3,845, a 540% rise since 2014. These soaring fees make it financially challenging for many of us to maintain lawful status, causing instability and uncertainty for our futures.
We are calling on the next Government to:
1) Pledge to immediately end the spiral of unpredictable, unaffordable fee increases – which arrive with little warning, making it impossible for young migrants to budget or save to meet these costs.
2) Deliver a comprehensive review of the current Home Office fees, including the impact on the lives of young migrants who have grown up in the UK, to inform a new, fairer route to settlement.
3) Introduce an extension of fee waivers to cover indefinite leave to remain applications to ensure those on the lowest incomes are not locked out of attaining settled status, and to undertake a review of the existing fee waiver scheme to ensure all of those who need help to meet their Home Office fees can receive it.
The young people we support, who have grown up in the UK and qualify for settlement, fear that unless fee waivers are extended to indefinite leave, their futures will be blighted by being endlessly stuck on a limited leave to remain loop. Many have had job offers withdrawn or missed out on work or educational opportunities because of their limited leave status.
No one wants to see young lives blighted in this way. We urge the government to work with us on a new long-term approach that benefits everyone.
Join us to amplify the voice of over 330,000 young migrants by adding your name to sign our Manifesto!
