The cost of a UK visa is not a single fee but a combination of charges: the Home Office application fee, the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) for every year of stay and, on work routes, the sponsor’s mandatory costs — the sponsor licence, the certificate of sponsorship (CoS) and the Immigration Skills Charge (ISC). This page brings together every current rate as at 13 October 2026, checked against the official Home Office fees table, together with worked examples of the full budget for applicants and employers.
What makes up the cost of a UK visa
The total depends on three factors: the immigration route, the length of leave requested and whether you apply from outside the UK or from within it. Work visas add a fourth factor — the size of the sponsoring organisation, which determines the licence fee and the ISC rate.
It helps to split every payment into two groups. The first is the applicant’s costs: the visa application fee, the Immigration Health Surcharge and, where needed, a faster decision service. The second is the employer’s costs: the sponsor licence, the certificate of sponsorship and the Immigration Skills Charge. Under Home Office rules, these are paid by the organisation, not by the worker.
Family members — a partner and children — pay their own application fee and IHS. For a family of three, the visa budget is therefore usually two to three times higher than for a single applicant, and this is the part of the cost that is most often underestimated at the planning stage.
It is important to distinguish mandatory payments from recommendations. The application fee, the IHS (unless the route is exempt), the CoS fee and the ISC are required by law and the immigration rules. Faster decision services, premium appointments at a visa application centre and professional support are optional and depend on the timing and complexity of each case.
UK visa fees table as at 13 October 2026
The application fee is the charge for considering your application and is paid online when you apply. The rates below come from the official Home Office table “Immigration and nationality fees: 8 October 2026”. Amounts are per person; dependants usually pay the same fee as the main applicant.
| Route | Length or condition | Applying from outside the UK | Applying in the UK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skilled Worker | up to 3 years | £819 | £943 |
| Skilled Worker | more than 3 years | £1,618 | £1,865 |
| Skilled Worker, Immigration Salary List occupation | up to 3 years / more than 3 years | £628 / £1,235 | £628 / £1,235 |
| Health and Care Worker | up to 3 years / more than 3 years | £324 / £628 | £324 / £628 |
| Senior or Specialist Worker (Global Business Mobility) | up to 3 years / more than 3 years | £819 / £1,618 | £943 / £1,865 |
| UK Expansion Worker, Graduate Trainee, Service Supplier, Secondment Worker | — | £340 | £340 |
| Scale-up | — | £937 | £937 |
| Global Talent | endorsement + visa | £561 + £205 | £561 + £205 |
| Innovator Founder | — | £1,357 | £1,693 |
| High Potential Individual | — | £880 | £880 |
| Graduate | in the UK only | — | £937 |
| Student and Child Student | — | £558 | £558 |
| Standard Visitor | up to 6 months | £135 | — |
| Standard Visitor, long-term | 2 / 5 / 10 years | £506 / £903 / £1,128 | — |
| Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) | trips of up to 6 months | £20 | — |
| Family visa: partner, parent, child | — | £2,064 | £1,407 |
| Adult dependent relative | — | £3,635 | £1,407 |
| Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) | each applicant | — | £3,226 |
| British citizenship (naturalisation) | application + ceremony | — | £1,709 + £130 |
Note the three-year threshold on work routes: if the certificate of sponsorship covers more than three years, the fee almost doubles, but you avoid paying for an extension partway through. The full list of family route fees is on the GOV.UK family visa page, and our guide to UK family visas explains the requirements for partner and spouse applications.
Immigration Health Surcharge: rates and who is exempt
The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) is a mandatory charge that gives access to the NHS for the duration of your visa. It is paid at the same time as the application, for the whole period of leave in one go. According to GOV.UK, there are two rates:
- £1,035 per year — for most routes, including work, family and business visas;
- £776 per year — for students and their dependants, Youth Mobility Scheme applicants and anyone under 18 on the date of application.
Part years follow specific rules. If a visa of six months or less is issued from outside the UK, no IHS is charged. For more than six months but less than a year, the full annual rate applies. For longer visas, half the annual rate is added for a remaining period of up to six months, and a remaining period of more than six months counts as a full year. For example, an 18-month visa costs £1,552.50 in surcharge, and a visa of two years and one month costs £2,587.50.
Some applicants do not pay the IHS at all. Under the GOV.UK rules, people applying for ILR, health and care workers eligible for the Health and Care Worker visa and their dependants, EU Settlement Scheme applicants and Standard Visitor applicants are exempt. If limited leave is granted instead of ILR, the surcharge becomes payable.
Sponsor fees: licence, CoS and Immigration Skills Charge
To hire a foreign worker on a work visa, a UK organisation must hold a sponsor licence and then assign a certificate of sponsorship to the worker. For most Worker routes, the Immigration Skills Charge is also payable — a levy the government uses to fund skills development in the UK workforce. All three payments are made by the employer.
The licence fee and the ISC rate depend on the organisation’s size. Under the Home Office definition, an organisation is usually a small sponsor if at least two of the following apply: annual turnover of £15 million or less, total assets of £7.5 million or less, and 50 employees or fewer. Charities pay the small sponsor rates.
| Charge | Small or charitable sponsor | Medium or large sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| Worker licence, or Worker and Temporary Worker licence | £611 | £1,682 |
| Temporary Worker licence | £611 | £611 |
| Adding a Worker licence to a Temporary Worker licence | no fee | £1,071 |
| Priority licence decision (within 10 working days) | £750 | £750 |
| CoS for Worker routes (Skilled Worker, Senior or Specialist Worker) | £525 | £525 |
| CoS for Temporary Worker routes | £55 | £55 |
| ISC for the first 12 months | £480 | £1,320 |
| ISC for each additional 6 months | £240 | £660 |
| ISC maximum over 5 years | £2,400 | £6,600 |
The ISC is paid in full when the certificate is assigned, for the entire period shown on the CoS. If UKVI says the charge has not been paid or has been underpaid, the organisation has 10 working days to pay, otherwise the worker’s visa application will be refused. The detailed rules are on the GOV.UK Immigration Skills Charge page, and our page on the UK sponsor licence explains how to obtain and keep one.
Who pays UK visa fees: the applicant or the sponsoring employer
- Application fee — the applicant, unless the employer chooses to cover it
- Immigration Health Surcharge — the applicant, for themselves and each dependant
- Certificate of sponsorship — the employer holding a sponsor licence only
- Immigration Skills Charge — the employer only, never recovered from the worker
- Sponsor licence — the organisation, when applying to the Home Office
- Faster decision service — whichever party needs the decision quickly
- Proof of £1,270 in funds — the applicant, or the sponsor certifying it on the CoS
The last item is not a fee but a financial requirement: under the GOV.UK Skilled Worker rules, you need at least £1,270 in your account for 28 days in a row unless your employer certifies maintenance on the certificate. The key practical takeaway is that sponsor costs cannot be passed on to the worker: the Home Office states that a licence may be revoked if the organisation asks the worker to pay the charge or any costs linked to its application.
Benefits of a professional estimate of visa and sponsorship costs
- Cost estimate based on the Home Office fees table on your application date
- IHS calculation for every family member, including part years
- Check of sponsor size and the correct ISC rate before the CoS is assigned
- Comparison of visa lengths below and above three years by total cost
- Assessment of eligibility for exemptions and reduced fees on your route
- Planning of extensions, ILR and citizenship within a single budget
- Preparation of the application without the risk of paying twice
Even when every rate is known, the final figure often turns out higher than expected because of additional services and requirements that are remembered at the last minute. They are covered separately below.
Faster decisions and other additional costs
Beyond the mandatory charges, a visa budget may include paid Home Office services. Their cost does not depend on the route and is added on top of the application fee. According to the GOV.UK page on faster decisions:
- Priority service — £500. You will usually get a decision within 5 working days for most visa applications; settlement and citizenship applications, and family visas applied for from outside the UK, usually take 30 working days.
- Super priority service — £1,000. You will usually get a decision by the end of the next working day; the service is available for visa and settlement applications, but not citizenship.
- Priority sponsor licence decision — £750. A decision within 10 working days; the number of these applications accepted each day is limited.
- Administrative review — £80. Payable if you challenge a refusal on grounds where a review is available.
- ETA — £20. An electronic travel authorisation for nationals who do not need a visa for short trips, required for every traveller, including children.
Bear in mind that a paid faster decision guarantees neither the outcome nor the exact timing: if the decision is delayed, the priority fee is not usually refunded. A faster service makes sense when you face a fixed deadline — a start date, the beginning of the academic year or the expiry of your current visa — and your documents are fully ready.
Costs unrelated to the Home Office form a separate budget line: translation and certification of documents, an English language test, a tuberculosis test for nationals of certain countries and, for settlement applicants, the Life in the UK test. They are not included in the tables on this page, but your estimate should allow for them.
How to calculate the full budget: worked examples
To turn the figures in the tables into a practical budget, here are four typical scenarios. All amounts use the rates in force on 13 October 2026 and exclude faster decision services and third-party costs.
Example 1. A family on a 5-year Skilled Worker visa, applying from outside the UK, large sponsor
- Application fees: 3 × £1,618 = £4,854 (worker, partner and child);
- IHS for two adults: 2 × 5 × £1,035 = £10,350;
- IHS for a child under 18: 5 × £776 = £3,880;
- total family costs: £19,084;
- employer costs: CoS £525 + ISC £6,600 = £7,125 (plus £1,682 if the licence is a first application).
Example 2. A graduate switching from a Student visa to a 3-year Skilled Worker visa, small sponsor
- Application fee in the UK: £943;
- IHS: 3 × £1,035 = £3,105;
- employer costs: CoS £525, with no ISC on a switch from a study visa;
- total for both parties: £4,573.
Example 3. A nurse on a 3-year Health and Care Worker visa, applying from outside the UK, small sponsor
- Application fee: £324, no IHS;
- employer costs: CoS £525 + ISC £480 + 4 × £240 = £1,965;
- total for both parties: £2,289.
Example 4. A specialist on a 5-year Global Talent visa
- Endorsement and visa: £561 + £205 = £766;
- IHS: 5 × £1,035 = £5,175;
- total: £5,941, with no sponsor costs, as this visa does not require an employer.
The difference between these examples shows why the same specialist can cost an employer £2,000 or more than £7,000: the route, the length of the certificate, the size of the organisation and any exemptions make all the difference. You can read more about the requirements in our guide to the Skilled Worker visa and on our Global Talent visa page. Here is how similar situations were handled in practice for our clients.
Client stories: sponsorship and work visas
Accelerated Sponsorship for Food Business in the UK
Andrew Cooper runs a restaurant and a fast-food place in the United Kingdom. He has also acquired a Fish and Chip food store that is quickly developing thanks to the coronavirus pandemic....
Obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship and UK Skilled Worker Visa
Aigul is from Kazakhstan. She is an experienced pharmacist with a medical degree who finds a perfect job in the United Kingdom and wants to relocate...
Obtaining Sponsorship Licence for Pharmaceutical Company To Employ Foreign Specialist
A foreign specialist cannot come to the UK to look for a job; there is no such visa. But they can apply for a work visa after getting employed by a...
Obtaining a UK Skilled Worker Visa after Graduation
Mansur is from Iran. He studies at a university in the United Kingdom and after graduation, considers staying here for good. After completing his university degree, Mansur could stay and...
In each of these stories, the employer was sponsoring for the first time and did not know in advance which costs the organisation would bear. One client described how his route to a licence began:
My business was expanding, so I needed additional staff. One of them was a foreign student studying at a British university. It turned out I had to register as a sponsor to employ him. I got in touch with Imperial & Legal. Their qualified specialists explained to me how to go about it and helped me prepare the necessary documents and obtain my sponsorship licence with a fast-track option.
The cost of hiring a foreign worker becomes predictable when it is calculated before the certificate is assigned, not afterwards. That is why working out the visa budget is the first stage of the process, not the last.
How Imperial & Legal supports your visa from estimate to settlement
The process has five stages. At each one, part of the cost is fixed for good, so the estimate is worth refining as you progress rather than calculating once at the start.
Route assessment and a preliminary cost estimate
Sponsor review and preparation of the CoS
Preparing and submitting the visa application and fees
Home Office decision and practical steps after approval
Visa extension, moving to ILR and a citizenship budget
You can read more about settlement requirements on our page about Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK. The current citizenship fee can always be checked on the GOV.UK naturalisation page.
Refunds: what you get back after a refusal or withdrawal
Refund rules differ between charges, and this matters when assessing risk. In short: the IHS and the ISC are refunded after a refusal, but the application fee is not.
Application fee. Under the Home Office refunds policy, if an application has been considered and refused, the fee is not refunded. It can be recovered only in limited cases — for example, if the application is withdrawn before biometrics are given, or if the application is invalid (less a £30 administrative charge). If citizenship is refused, the ceremony fee is refunded.
IHS. Under the GOV.UK rules, the surcharge is refunded in full if the visa is refused or the application is withdrawn before a decision, and in part if less leave is granted than requested or a dependant is refused. It is not refunded if the visa is granted but you do not travel to the UK, if you leave before your visa ends or if you switch to a route that is exempt from the surcharge.
ISC. The employer receives a full refund if the worker’s application is refused or withdrawn, or if the visa is granted but the worker does not start work. A partial refund applies if the worker is granted less leave than sponsored or leaves before the end date on the CoS. Refunds are usually paid within 90 days.
Visa budget, start to finish
We calculate the full cost of a visa and hire before you apply
Visa cost estimate
Fees and IHS for the full visa period for each family member
Application support
Documents and submission planned around timing and service
Sponsor review
Licence, company size and ISC rate checked before the CoS
Route to settlement
Planning extensions, ILR and the cost of British citizenship
Even when the scope of services is clear, the final figure depends largely on which exemptions and reduced rates you qualify for. Some apply automatically; others only if the certificate is prepared correctly.
Exemptions and reduced fees: lawful ways to save
The immigration rules provide several ways to reduce the total cost of a visa. Each works only when specific conditions are met, so eligibility for every concession should be checked before you apply.
- Health and Care Worker. A reduced application fee (£324 or £628) and a full IHS exemption — for both the worker and their family members.
- Immigration Salary List. If the occupation is on the list, the Skilled Worker fee falls to £628 or £1,235 wherever you apply from.
- ISC exemptions. No charge for dependants, for a switch from a study visa to the Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker route and any later extension, or for certain scientific and teaching occupations — including researchers (codes 2111–2119, 2161, 2162) and higher education teaching professionals (2311).
- Global Business Mobility for EU nationals. No ISC for a temporary transfer of up to 36 months from an EU business, provided the Home Office conditions are met.
- Short visas from outside the UK. No IHS for leave of six months or less.
- Family route fee waiver. Available if you cannot afford the fee — for example, if you have no place to live or cannot afford essential living costs; the waiver request is considered separately.
For employers, further savings often come from the correct sponsor size: wrongly classing an organisation as large leads to ISC overpayment of up to £4,200 per worker over five years. Part of the overpayment can be recovered, but only if UKVI had already been told the organisation is a small sponsor.
Common mistakes when budgeting for a UK visa
Most unexpected costs arise not from fee increases but from mistakes at the calculation stage. These are the situations advisers see most often:
- Counting the IHS for the main applicant only. A partner and each child pay the surcharge separately, and for a family it can exceed half of the total budget.
- Counting the ISC for one year. The charge covers the whole CoS period at once; on a five-year certificate from a large sponsor it is £6,600, not £1,320.
- Passing sponsor costs to the worker. Deducting the ISC or the CoS fee from salary puts the licence directly at risk of revocation.
- Using an outdated source. Fees change several times a year, and the rate payable is the one in force when you apply.
- Choosing the wrong visa length. Sometimes a visa of more than three years is cheaper than two applications in a row; sometimes the reverse is true.
- Expecting the application fee back after a refusal. A considered and refused application does not refund the fee, and neither does the priority service charge.
Each of these mistakes is easier to prevent than to correct: once the application is submitted, the amount cannot be changed, and a fresh application means paying the fee again.
The rates on this page are correct as at the verification date. To keep an estimate accurate a few months from now, it helps to understand how and when the Home Office reviews its fees.
How UK visa fees change and why the verification date matters
The Home Office updates its fees table several times a year. The latest general increase took effect on 8 April 2026, and the current table applies from 8 October 2026. All previous versions are archived on the UK visa fees page on GOV.UK, so you can check which rate applied on a given date.
It is not only the amounts that change but also route features that affect the budget. For example, according to GOV.UK, the Graduate visa lasts 2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026 and 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027. The application fee stays at £937, while the IHS falls from £2,070 to £1,552.50. Changes like these are worth tracking if your application falls near the cut-off.
Key points on UK visa costs
The cost of a UK visa is made up of the application fee, the IHS for the whole period of leave and, on work routes, the sponsor’s charges. For a family on a five-year work visa, the total can easily exceed £20,000, so the budget is best calculated in advance and for each person separately. The key points of this guide are set out below.
Key takeaways
- The rates on this page were checked against the Home Office fees table on 13 October 2026;
- the IHS is £1,035 a year, or £776 for students and children; Health and Care Worker visas and ILR are exempt;
- sponsor costs — the licence, a £525 CoS and up to £6,600 ISC over five years — are paid by the employer only;
- after a refusal, the IHS and the ISC are refunded, but a considered application fee is not;
- the route to settlement includes ILR at £3,226 per person and citizenship at £1,839 including the ceremony.
The information on this page is for general guidance and is not individual legal advice. The exact amount depends on the circumstances of each applicant and sponsoring organisation; check the rates on GOV.UK before paying, or discuss the calculation with an adviser.
