Immigrants in Britain are facing "discriminatory and unethical" treatment, claimed an NRI forum, which accused authorities in London of forcing migrants to pay excessive fees for Home Office services.

"Immigrants in the UK demand fair treatment from the Home Office. Since 2006, Immigrants in the UK have been forced to pay for the overall immigration services in the form of dual taxation rather than just paying for their application processing fee alone," claimed the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme Forum (HSMP Forum), which represents immigrants in the UK, particularly those from the Indian subcontinent.

It alleged that immigrants in Britain are forced to pay excessive fees for Home Office Services. The Home Office is presently conducting a charging consultation to further increase the existing "unwarranted high fees", it said.

Amit Kapadia, Executive Director of the HSMP Forum and Association of Immigrants, expressed concern "over this unfair treatment".

"We are very concerned over this unfair treatment. It is discriminatory and unethical," Kapadia said. The Home Office is presently conducting a charging consultation to further increase the existing "unwarranted high fees", it said in a statement.

In its submission to the UK Border Agency (UKBA) regarding the charging of consultation, HSMP pointed out that the fees charged for issuing entry clearance, visa extension and settlement have increased by more than 100 per cent since April 2007.