At present, foreigners who have served in the Armed Forces are charged £2,389 for visas to regularise their immigration status. Once fees for dependents are taken into account, the charges can total more than £10,000 for a family of four.

Mr Njie has spoken out as the Nationality and Borders Bill goes through Parliament. Johnny Mercer, the former Conservative defence minister, and Dan Jarvis, the Labour MP, are spearheading a cross-party campaign to scrap the “steep” charges for ex-personnel who want to regularise their immigration status.

The two men, who are both British Army veterans themselves, recently unsuccessfully tabled an amendment to the Bill that would see the fees lifted for all Commonwealth veterans who have served a minimum of five years in the UK military, as well as removing the fees charged for visas for their spouses and children.

Mr Mercer said “it broke my heart” when MPs did not back the amendment earlier this month, as he claimed that for the Government, “if you’re a veteran, or a Foreign and Commonwealth soldier who has literally given his limbs for the nation, they genuinely don’t give a toss”.

He added that along with Mr Jarvis, they will put the amendment on the second reading of the Bill again, “and hope colleagues do not make the same mistake twice”.