FAMILY VISITOR APPEALS

That this House welcomes the restoration, under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, of the right of appeal againt a refusal of a visa to visit family members in the United Kingdom; notes the considerable concern of the Commission for Racial Equality, the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, the Immigration Advisory Service, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association, the Legal Action Group, Justice, the Law Society and others that the value of this right of appeal is negated by the charging of substantial fees to appellants; notes with regret that these fees, the first to be imposed under the social welfare tribunal system, will have an adverse impact on black and Asian families, and thus on race relations; and urges the Government to dispense with such fee-charging for family visitor appeals.