The Consular Fees Order 2012

1.  This Order may be cited as the Consular Fees Order 2012 and comes into force on 6th April 2012.

2.  In this Order—

“consular officer” means any person authorised by the Secretary of State to exercise consular functions, or functions in the United Kingdom which correspond with consular functions (including persons who are not, as well as persons who are, consular officers);

“consular employee” means any person in the administrative or technical service of the consular post or diplomatic mission;

“consular premises” means the building or parts of buildings used for the purposes of the consular post or diplomatic mission;

“direct costs” means expenses that are incidental to the performance of a service, such as the cost of posting documents to a customer’s home address or travel costs;

“fast-track service” means an application made in person, either by the applicant or another person acting on behalf of the applicant, which is to be processed within seven days of that application having been made;

“fast-track collect service” means an application made in person, either by the applicant or by another person acting on behalf of the applicant, which is to be processed within seven days of that application having been made, and which permits the applicant or another person acting on behalf of the applicant to collect the passport in person;

“overseas service” in relation to legalisation means the service for the processing by consular officers at consular posts of applications made in person;

“premium service” in relation to legalisation means the same day service for the processing by a London legalisation office dedicated for companies, solicitors and notaries of applications made in person;

“premium service” in relation to passport applications means an application made in person, either by the applicant or another person acting on behalf of the applicant, which is to be processed within twenty-four hours of that application having been made;

“standard service” in relation to legalisation means the twenty-four hours service for the processing by the main legalisation office at Milton Keynes, of applications made in person at that office and the processing by that office of postal applications within a reasonable time period.

“the appropriate Registrar General” for the purpose of fee 13 means the Registrar General for England and Wales, the Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages for Scotland, or the Registrar General in Northern Ireland, as the case may be, under the Foreign Marriage Order 1970(1) or the Civil Partnership (Registration Abroad and Certificates) Order 2005(2).

3.  The fees set forth in the table in Parts 1 and 2 of Schedule 1 to this Order are prescribed to be levied by consular officers and by marriage officers under the Foreign Marriage Act 1892(3) and the Marriage with Foreigners Act 1906(4) in the execution of each of their functions specified in those tables.

4.  The statutory instruments listed in Schedule 2 to this Order are revoked by this Order.

Richard Tilbrook

Clerk of the Privy Council