OVERSEAS personnel serving in the British armed forces will be able to apply to stay in the UK without paying a £2,389 application fee.

The visa fee will be scrapped for personnel who have completed six years in the forces or been discharged due to an illness or injury sustained during their service.

The waiver, agreed by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel, will also apply to eligible veterans.

The new policy will come into effect in the spring and could help some of the 9,000 non-UK citizens currently serving in the armed forces if they want to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK after their service ends.

Mr Wallace said: “It is only right that we have taken this important step to express our sincere gratitude to the brave men and women from outside of the UK who have made such a valuable contribution to the defence of this country.”

Ms Patel said: “There are thousands of brave men and women across the Commonwealth who have served our country with distinction in the military over the years.

“Waiving the visa fee for those Commonwealth veterans and Gurkhas with six years’ service who want to settle here is a suitable way of acknowledging their personal contribution and service to our nation.”

But the waiver will not cover the families of overseas personnel, with Mr Wallace arguing that if a British national serving in the military had a foreign partner they would have to pay the fee.

Mr Wallace said: “It would be fundamentally unfair to pay for the families of Commonwealth soldiers but not the families of British soldiers… If you are a young Guardsman from Preston and you marry a girl from Singapore, it has never been the case that the armed forces pay for the new wife to come and settle.”

John Lamont MP for MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk welcomed the announcement. He said: “Those who serve our country in the armed forces are truly the best of us. It is absolutely right that non-UK service personnel are given the recognition they deserve. I believe the measures outlined by the UK Government go some of the way to providing that.

“Commonwealth soldiers have a proud history of serving in our military, including during the World Wars, and right up to the present day helping us fight against Covid-19.

“After deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan and many other countries across the globe in recent years, more recently our armed forces have played a vital role in our battle against Covid-19. I know that non-UK personnel have been an integral part of these operations.

“It is vital that those serving or who have served in our armed forces feel valued. I am pleased to see the UK Government taking more steps to make this happen.

“Last week’s update to immigration rules will also encourage personnel to consider staying in the armed forces for longer, addressing concerns about retaining more of our fantastic soldiers.”