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Written question asked by Lord Rosser (Labour) on Tuesday, 6 September 2022, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 20 September 2022. It was answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative) on Wednesday, 21 September 2022 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office: Email

Question

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 26 July (HL1712), why the cost of an email enquiry via SITEL UK changed from £5.48 per email between March 2017 and April 2021, to £2.74 per email since May 2021.

Answer

From 5th October 2020 customers applying for visas from outside the UK who choose to make contact by e-mail will be charged £2.74 per e-mail. This includes the initial e-mail enquiry plus any follow-up e-mails to and from the contact centre relating to the same enquiry. E-mails are sent via a web message form on www.gov.uk.

Customers calling UKVI from outside the UK will be charged 69p per minute (plus their local network charge).

These charges were reduced by 50% against the previous charges (£1.37 per minute for calls and £5.48 per email enquiry).

The previous charges were reviewed in 2020. As part of that review, operational commercial improvement opportunities were identified, enabling the charges to be reduced.

The supplier of UKVI’s international email and telephony services and in country telephony services changed from Sitel, to Teleperformance during a handover period between 31st March 2021 and 28 April 2021.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL2245
Session
2022-23
Related items
Home Office: Email
Tuesday, 26 July 2022
Written questions
House of Lords
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Costs Home Office Email Sitel
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk