ILR Fees UK 2026: Indefinite Leave to Remain Cost Breakdown

What ILR is and what it grants

Indefinite Leave to Remain is the UK's permanent settlement status for non-British citizens. A holder can live in the UK without a time limit on their stay, take any job, run any business, study at any level, and access most public funds and benefits on the same basis as a British citizen. The status does not confer citizenship, voting rights, or a UK passport: those require a separate naturalisation application after the qualifying period (usually one year after ILR for partners of British citizens and immediately after ILR for everyone else).

ILR is granted under one of several settlement categories defined in the Immigration Rules. The most common routes are the five-year Skilled Worker route, the five-year partner or spouse route under Appendix FM, the ten-year long residence route, the five-year Global Talent or Innovator Founder route, and the EU Settlement Scheme settled status route. Each route has its own qualifying conditions, but they share a common application fee and a common end-point set of rights.

Holders of ILR can lose the status. The most common loss event is an absence from the UK of more than two consecutive years, which causes ILR to lapse automatically. A separate loss event is a deportation order following a criminal offence. Loss of ILR through long absence can be reversed through a Returning Resident application, but the threshold for that is high.

ILR application fee for 2026

The main application fee for ILR in 2026 is GBP 3,029 per applicant. The fee is set by the Home Office under the published fees regulations and is the same whether the application is made under the Skilled Worker route, the Family route, the Long Residence route, or most other settlement routes. The fee is reviewed annually and is typically updated in the April fees order: the current GBP 3,029 figure reflects the position from April 2026.

The application is submitted from inside the UK using the SET form variants on GOV.UK (SET (M) for partners, SET (O) for work routes, SET (LR) for long residence, and so on). The fee is taken at the point of submission and is not refundable if the application is later refused or withdrawn. A separate Biometric Enrolment Fee of GBP 19.20 is paid at the appointment to capture photographs and fingerprints.

Where a main applicant is settling at the same time as a partner and dependent children, each person submits their own settlement application and pays the full fee. There is no discount for family group applications. Children of a parent who already holds ILR (a stand-alone child settlement application under Appendix FM) pay the same GBP 3,029 fee.

Optional Home Office service fees

Standard processing for ILR is targeted at six months from biometric enrolment. UKVI offers two optional faster services. The Priority Service costs an additional GBP 500 and aims to deliver a decision within five working days. The Super Priority Service costs an additional GBP 1,000 and aims for a decision by the end of the next working day after biometric enrolment.

Both priority services require the case to be eligible: complex cases (long residence with gaps, dependency on a deceased sponsor, criminal record disclosures) may be moved off the priority track if the caseworker concludes the case needs deeper review. The priority fee is non-refundable even if the case moves to standard processing once it has started.

UKVI also offers a User Pays Visa Application Centre service (additional fees vary by service centre) where the applicant attends a particular premium location for biometrics. These fees are charged by the commercial service provider (Sopra Steria in the UK) rather than the Home Office and are listed on the booking page at the point of appointment.

Pre-application costs to budget

Most settlement routes require two evidential thresholds outside the application form itself: the Life in the UK Test and proof of English language proficiency. The Life in the UK Test is administered by Learndirect on behalf of the Home Office and costs GBP 50. Candidates book a slot at an official test centre, take a 45-minute multiple choice test based on the published handbook, and need a pass mark of 75 per cent. Re-sits cost the same GBP 50 each.

The English language requirement depends on the route. Skilled Worker route ILR applicants will usually have proved English at B1 CEFR or higher at an earlier stage and that evidence carries forward, but a fresh Secure English Language Test (SELT) may be needed if the route or qualifying level has changed. SELT test fees vary by provider (IELTS for UKVI, Pearson PTE Academic UKVI, LanguageCert International ESOL) and typically sit in the GBP 150 to GBP 200 range.

Applicants whose nationality is on the GOV.UK list of "majority English-speaking countries" or who have a degree taught in English from a recognised institution can use those alternatives instead of a SELT. Documents from a non-UK university may require verification by UK ENIC, which charges a fee for academic and English-language equivalence statements.

Immigration Health Surcharge and ILR

The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) is the levy that gives migrants access to NHS treatment during their stay. The current rate is GBP 1,035 per adult per year and GBP 776 per child per year, paid up front for the full length of the visa being granted.

IHS is not paid on an ILR application itself: ILR is settlement and settled people access the NHS on the same basis as British citizens, without an annual surcharge. IHS is paid on the temporary leave grants that precede ILR. A Skilled Worker applicant who enters on a five-year visa pays five years of IHS at the outset (or a 30-day refund window applies if leave is granted for less than the requested length). A partner applicant under Appendix FM pays IHS at each 30-month extension stage.

Applicants approaching ILR who have already paid IHS for a period that extends beyond the ILR grant date are not refunded the unused portion automatically. A refund must be claimed by submitting the refund form at gov.uk/visa-fees-refund within the published time window after ILR is granted, otherwise the unused IHS is forfeited.

Costs by route: worked examples

A Skilled Worker applicant who completes five years of continuous sponsored work and applies for ILR pays the GBP 3,029 settlement fee. The Life in the UK Test, English language evidence (if not already on file), and the GBP 19.20 biometric fee bring the total to roughly GBP 3,100 for a single applicant. Optional priority services add GBP 500 or GBP 1,000. Earlier stages of the route involved Certificate of Sponsorship fees (paid by the employer), the original visa application fees, the Immigration Skills Charge (paid by the employer) and five years of IHS.

A partner under Appendix FM (the five-year route) pays the GBP 3,029 settlement fee at the end. Earlier stages involved two extension applications (each with their own fee and IHS payment), an initial entry clearance fee, and English-language tests. The cumulative cost of the five-year partner route to settlement, including IHS at three stages, comfortably exceeds GBP 12,000 for a single applicant and rises sharply for those on the longer ten-year partner route.

A Long Residence applicant (ten years of lawful continuous residence) pays the GBP 3,029 fee at the end. The route does not have its own IHS calculation: the IHS paid on each underlying visa during the ten-year period stands. Long Residence applicants often have a complex evidential file (entry stamps, visa grants, employer letters) and many use professional support, which is a separate cost from the Home Office fee.

Refunds, withdrawals and fee waivers

The application fee is non-refundable once UKVI begins processing. If an application is withdrawn before the biometric appointment, a partial refund of the fee is sometimes available, but the optional priority fees and the IHS already paid are not returned. The fee waiver scheme that exists for some human rights applications (mostly Appendix FM cases for those unable to afford the fee) does not extend to standard settlement under the work routes.

Where the Home Office issues a refusal, the fee is retained. An administrative review can be requested where the route allows: ILR refusals attract an administrative review costing GBP 80, refundable if the review succeeds. Judicial review is a separate, much more expensive process and falls outside the Home Office fee schedule entirely.

Frequently asked questions

How much is ILR in the UK in 2026?

The Home Office application fee for ILR in 2026 is GBP 3,029 per applicant in the standard settlement category. A biometric enrolment fee of GBP 19.20 applies separately. Optional faster processing adds GBP 500 (Priority Service) or GBP 1,000 (Super Priority). The Life in the UK Test is GBP 50 and is taken before submitting the application.

Are there any cheaper or discounted ILR fees?

The standard settlement fee applies to most routes. There is no family discount: each adult and child pays the full fee. Certain limited categories (refugees and stateless persons granted ILR after five years) have separate fee provisions that may waive part of the application cost, set out in the fees regulations.

Is IHS paid on an ILR application?

No. The Immigration Health Surcharge is paid on temporary leave only. ILR holders access the NHS on the same basis as British citizens and do not pay IHS for the period of settlement. Any IHS paid for a period beyond the ILR grant date can be refunded by claiming through the GOV.UK refund route within the published time window.

Can the ILR fee be paid in instalments?

No. The Home Office requires the full fee, plus any optional priority service fee, to be paid at the point of online submission. Applicants who cannot pay in a single transaction should wait until funds are available before submitting, since payment failure halts the application.

How long does an ILR decision take?

Standard processing targets a decision within six months of the biometric appointment. Priority Service targets five working days. Super Priority Service targets the next working day. Complex cases (long residence with gaps, dependency disputes, criminal record disclosures) may be removed from priority tracks and run on standard timing instead.

What happens after ILR is granted?

Once ILR is in place, the holder can stay in the UK indefinitely subject to not being absent for more than two consecutive years. After 12 months on ILR (or immediately after ILR for partners of British citizens), the holder becomes eligible to apply for British citizenship by naturalisation, which carries its own separate fee.

Does the ILR fee include legal advice?

No. The Home Office fee covers application processing only. Anyone wanting professional immigration advice on their ILR application should engage an adviser regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) or a solicitor regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Adviser fees are quoted separately by each firm and vary widely.

How we verified this

Fee figures in this guide come from the Home Office Fees Order applicable from April 2026 and the GOV.UK fees table at the point of writing. Route descriptions follow Appendix Settlement and the route-specific appendices (Skilled Worker, Family, Long Residence) of the Immigration Rules. IHS rates reflect the Immigration Health Surcharge Order in force in 2026 as published by the Home Office. The Life in the UK Test fee is the published rate at lifeintheuktest.ukvi.homeoffice.gov.uk.

Primary sources and further reading

• GOV.UK: Indefinite leave to remain
• Home Office: Visa and immigration fees table
• GOV.UK: Life in the UK Test
• GOV.UK: Immigration Health Surcharge
• Home Office: Immigration Rules
• GOV.UK: Settle in the UK