Applying for a UK visa from overseas means two bills: the entry clearance fee — £135 for a visitor, £819 for most Skilled Workers, £2,064 for a partner — and the immigration health surcharge that often dwarfs it at £1,035 per adult per year. This guide collects the current fees by route, the IHS arithmetic and exemptions, the priority services, and worked totals so families and employers can budget the whole journey, not just the headline fee.
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What Entry Clearance Really Costs
Every figure below comes from the Home Office's published fees table as amended in April 2026 — the authoritative source each fees order rewrites, and the page to re-check the week you apply. The pattern across routes is consistent: the visa fee is the smaller number, the health surcharge the larger, and the priority services the optional layer on top.
Add the visa fee to £1,035 per adult per year of health surcharge (£776 for students and children) and you have the real Home Office bill. Visitors, fiancé(e)s and Health and Care Workers skip the surcharge — everyone else should budget it first, because it is usually the bigger number.
Fee Table
Main Routes at a Glance
| Route | Fee | IHS |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Visitor (6 months) | £135 | None |
| Skilled Worker (up to 3 years) | £819 | £1,035/year |
| Health and Care Worker (up to 3 years) | £324 | Exempt |
| Student | £558 | £776/year |
| Partner and fiancé(e) | £2,064 | £1,035/year (fiancé: none) |
| BN(O) (5 years) | £285 | £5,175 adult |
| Temporary Worker routes | £340 | £1,035/year |
| ETA (non-visa nationals) | £20 | None |
Visitor Fees
Visit Visa Categories
The six-month Standard Visitor visa costs £135, with long-term options at £506 (2 years), £903 (5 years) and £1,128 (10 years) — each capped at six months per visit — and the medical treatment visitor at £234. Transit runs £41.50 airside and £74.50 landside. No health surcharge attaches to any visitor category, which keeps these the only routes where the headline fee is the whole Home Office bill; the route detail sits with our visitor visa team.
ETA Nationalities
Non-visa nationals — Europeans, Americans, Australians and the rest of the visa-free list — pay £20 for an Electronic Travel Authorisation instead of a visitor visa, covering repeated visits of up to six months. British dual nationals cannot use it and need a British passport or certificate of entitlement.
Work Visa Fees
Skilled and Care Worker Fees
Skilled Worker entry clearance costs £819 for grants up to three years and £1,618 beyond, dropping to £628 and £1,235 on the Immigration Salary List. The Health and Care Worker visa is the outlier bargain: £324 or £628 by length, with full IHS exemption for the worker and dependants — thousands of pounds of difference for the same family. Sponsor-side costs (certificates, licence fees, the skills charge) sit with the employer and our business immigration team.
Specialist Work Categories
Temporary Worker routes — charity, creative, religious, seasonal, Youth Mobility — cluster at £340, the International Sportsperson at £340 for short grants and £819 beyond a year, and Global Business Mobility categories carry their own scheduled fees. The BN(O) route's £206 and £285 fees remain the lowest of any long-term route.
Student Fees
Categories and Costs
Student and Child Student entry clearance both cost £558, with the IHS at the discounted £776 student rate per year of leave. Short-term English courses run instead on the £228 short-term study visa, and our student visa team handles the maintenance evidence that accompanies every application.
Worked Degree Example
A three-year degree granted with the usual four months' wrap-around means three and a half years of surcharge: £776 × 3.5 = £2,716, for a Home Office total around £3,274 before any deposits the university requires and the maintenance funds that must sit evidenced in the account. The surcharge, not the fee, is the number that surprises student families.
Family Fees
Partner and Spouse Categories
Partner and fiancé(e) entry clearance costs £2,064 — the system's most expensive standard application — with the partner's first grant running 33 months and carrying £3,105 of surcharge; the six-month fiancé visa is IHS-free. Children apply alongside at the same fee. The full five-year budget, stage by stage, is worked through in our spouse visa fees guide, with elderly relatives' costs in our adult dependent relative guide.
Family Cost Example
A spouse joining a British partner pays £2,064 + £3,105 IHS = £5,169 to enter; the in-country steps that follow — extension at £1,407 + £2,587.50, then settlement at £3,226 — bring the five-year route total to £12,389.50 at current rates. Families on the ten-year track roughly double the pre-settlement spend, which is where fee waivers matter.
Health Surcharge
IHS Rates and Calculation
The surcharge runs £1,035 per adult per year and £776 for students, Youth Mobility applicants and children — charged for the full grant upfront, with part-years over six months rounded to a full year and shorter part-years to a half. The official calculator gives exact totals; pay it only through the application itself, never a third-party site.
Who Pays No Surcharge
Health and Care Worker applicants and their dependants, visitors, fiancé(e)s, and defined protection categories pay no surcharge — and refunds apply where leave is refused or surcharge overpaid. Checking exemption before paying beats reclaiming after.
Priority Services
Paid Options Overseas
Where the local visa application centre offers them: priority at £500 targets five working days for most routes but thirty working days for family entry clearance, and super priority at £1,000 targets the next working day where available. Application centre service charges — appointments, document handling, couriers — sit on top and vary by country.
Total Costs
Worked Totals
The budgeting rule for every route: fee + surcharge + services + the evidence costs (TB certificates, translations, English tests) — then the future stages, because entry clearance is rarely the last payment. In-country extensions, settlement at £3,226 and citizenship at £1,839 complete the journey, all collected in our Home Office fees guide; fee levels and their policy history are tracked in the Commons Library's briefings, and long-term planning belongs with our settlement team and family visa team.
Frequently askedQuestions about UK visa fees
How much is a UK visa fee in 2026?
By route: £135 for a six-month visitor visa, £558 for students, £819 for most Skilled Workers, £2,064 for partners — plus the health surcharge of £1,035 per adult per year on most non-visitor routes.
What are the 2, 5 and 10 year UK visa fees?
Those are long-term visitor visas: £506 for 2 years, £903 for 5 and £1,128 for 10 — each allowing repeated visits of up to six months, with no health surcharge.
How is the IHS calculated for a child dependant?
At £776 per year of the leave granted, paid upfront — £2,587.50 becomes £1,940 at the child rate on a 30-month grant. Part-years over six months round up to a full year, shorter ones to a half.
Which routes avoid the health surcharge?
Visitors and fiancé(e)s pay none, and Health and Care Worker applicants with their dependants are exempt entirely — often the largest single saving available to a qualifying family.
Can I pay UK visa fees in local currency?
Fees are set in sterling and converted at the Home Office's consular rate at payment — expect small variations by country and card. The gov.uk application shows the exact local amount before you commit.
Do visa fees change every year?
Usually — fees orders typically land each spring, the April 2026 round being the latest, and the surcharge moves separately. Check the published fees table in the week you apply; applications at a superseded fee are invalid.
Tell us the route and who is travelling. We'll price the whole journey — entry clearance to settlement — and flag every exemption and waiver on the way.
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