UK Skilled Worker Visa Cost 2026: Full Fees, IHS, Dependents and Worked Examples

TL;DR

The 2026 UK Skilled Worker visa costs £719 to £1,420 in Home Office application fees alone for the main applicant, but the total upfront bill including the Immigration Health Surcharge runs £3,824 to £6,599 for a single applicant on a three-year grant. Adding a partner and two children typically pushes the household total past £15,000 before priority service or solicitor fees. Specific figures, the IHS calculation, and a worked family example follow below.

Last reviewed: 31 May 2026

The 2026 Skilled Worker visa cost in headline terms

For a single main applicant on a three-year Skilled Worker visa applying from outside the UK, the bill in 2026 breaks down to £719 in the Home Office application fee (standard route at the lower end of the duration band) plus £3,105 in the Immigration Health Surcharge (three years at the £1,035 adult rate), totalling £3,824 before biometric enrolment, English language testing, or any priority service add-on. For the same applicant on a five-year grant the application fee rises to £1,420 and the IHS to £5,175, taking the upfront bill to £6,595. The UK visa fee calculator at the top of this hub models these numbers directly and adjusts for inside-UK applications, dependants and priority service.

The two figures most likely to shift in the next twelve months are the application fee itself (Home Office fee schedules typically uplift each April) and the IHS rate (last raised February 2024 from £624 to £1,035 for adults). Both are set under statutory instrument and published in advance, but figures should be re-verified against gov.uk before any application is submitted.

Home Office application fee by duration and route variant

The Home Office charges different application fees depending on how long the leave is for, whether the application is made from inside or outside the UK, and whether the role appears on the Immigration Salary List (formerly the Shortage Occupation List). The April 2025 fee instrument set the following rates for the Skilled Worker route, applicable through to the next scheduled review:

Outside UK, up to three years, standard occupation: £719
Outside UK, up to three years, Immigration Salary List occupation: £551
Outside UK, more than three years, standard occupation: £1,420
Outside UK, more than three years, Immigration Salary List occupation: £1,084
Inside UK, up to three years, standard occupation: £827
Inside UK, more than three years, standard occupation: £1,500

The inside-UK premium of roughly £200 reflects in-country biometric and processing handling cost and applies whether the applicant is extending an existing Skilled Worker visa or switching from another route such as the Student or Graduate visa.

The Immigration Health Surcharge - usually the largest single charge

The IHS is charged at £1,035 per year of leave for adults and £776 per year for under-18 dependants and full-time students. It is paid upfront with the visa application, not annually, and is set under the Immigration (Health Charge) Order 2015 as amended in February 2024. For a three-year Skilled Worker grant the adult IHS comes to £3,105, and for a five-year grant it is £5,175. The IHS is refundable in three scenarios: if the application is withdrawn before a decision, if leave is refused, or if the holder leaves the UK before the granted leave period ends (refund is then pro-rated to the unused years).

Importantly the IHS is paid by every person on the application. A Skilled Worker holder with a partner and two children on a three-year grant pays four lots of IHS - £3,105 + £3,105 + £2,328 + £2,328, totalling £10,866 in IHS alone. That is comfortably more than the Home Office application fees combined for the same family.

Priority service, biometric and other Home Office charges

Standard processing for outside-UK Skilled Worker applications runs three to eight weeks from biometric submission, varying by country. Two priority service add-ons are available at the time of application:

Priority service (five working days from biometric): added £500 per applicant
Super priority service (next working day from biometric): added £1,000 per applicant

Both add-ons are per person, not per family. For a family of four on super priority the add-on alone costs £4,000.

The biometric enrolment fee of £19.20 is charged separately at the visa application centre and is not part of the Home Office fee schedule above. Some in-country super-priority appointments include the biometric capture in the priority fee. The Certificate of Sponsorship issued by the UK employer carries its own charge (£239 paid by the employer, not the applicant) and the Immigration Skills Charge of £364 per year for small sponsors or £1,000 per year for medium-large sponsors is also an employer cost rather than an applicant cost. Both ultimately affect how willing sponsors are to recruit overseas but do not appear on the applicant's bill.

Worked example - family of four on a three-year grant

The compounding effect of dependants and IHS years is the single largest source of bill-shock for Skilled Worker applicants. The worked example below uses the standard occupation rate, outside-UK application, three-year grant, no priority service.

Main applicant Home Office fee: £719
Spouse Home Office fee: £719
Child 1 Home Office fee: £719
Child 2 Home Office fee: £719
Main applicant IHS (3 years adult): £3,105
Spouse IHS (3 years adult): £3,105
Child 1 IHS (3 years under-18): £2,328
Child 2 IHS (3 years under-18): £2,328
Biometric enrolment (4 x £19.20): £76.80

Total upfront cost: £13,818.80. Add super priority service across the family and the bill rises to £17,818.80. Add a Secure English Language Test for one adult (£180), tuberculosis test certificates if applying from a listed country (4 x £100 = £400), and document translation (£120 typical), and the realistic outside-the-calculator bill rises to roughly £18,500 before any solicitor or OISC adviser fee. Use the calculator at the top of the hub to vary duration, dependant count and route variant interactively.

Costs not in the Home Office fee schedule

Several items land outside the Home Office fee schedule and so outside the headline visa-cost figure but inside the real budget an applicant family has to plan for. These vary more by personal circumstance than the Home Office charges, so the figures below are illustrative ranges:

Secure English Language Test for applicants not exempt by nationality or degree: £150 to £200 per adult
Tuberculosis test certificate for applicants from listed countries: £70 to £130 per person
Document translation by an accredited translator: £15 to £40 per page
Travel and overnight stays for biometric appointments where the nearest centre is in another city or country: highly variable
Immigration solicitor or OISC adviser fee if engaged: £800 to £3,500 for a standard work visa application, more for complex cases
Sponsor switching costs if the applicant changes employer mid-leave: a fresh Home Office application fee but no fresh IHS for the remaining leave period

Applicants from countries without a UK visa application centre in-country can face travel costs higher than the application fee itself. The gov.uk visa application centre locator shows the nearest accepting centre by country.

A second item that catches applicants off-guard is the maintenance funds requirement. Skilled Worker applicants whose sponsor does not certify their funds need to show £1,270 held for 28 consecutive days in a personal account before the application date, plus £285 for a partner and £315 for the first child and £200 for each additional child. The funds requirement is not a fee paid to the Home Office, but it is a real cash constraint that affects when an application can be submitted. Sponsors above a certain size threshold can certify maintenance on the Certificate of Sponsorship and exempt the applicant from the requirement entirely.

Refunds and what is recoverable

The Home Office application fee is not refunded if a visa is refused. It is refunded only if the application is withdrawn before processing begins, which in practice is a narrow window of a few days after submission. The IHS is treated differently: the full amount is refunded if leave is refused, and a pro-rated amount is refunded if the holder leaves the UK before the granted leave period ends. The biometric enrolment fee and priority service add-on are not refundable once the appointment has taken place.

For unsuccessful applications, the question of whether to apply again on the same route or switch to a different route turns largely on whether the original refusal was on eligibility grounds (which a re-application is unlikely to fix) or on documentary or procedural grounds (which can often be addressed in a fresh application). Administrative review is available in some refusal categories for a flat fee of £80 and is detailed in the administrative review guide linked below.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Skilled Worker visa application fee refundable if the application is refused?

No. The Home Office application fee is not refunded when a visa is refused. It is refunded only when the application is withdrawn before processing begins. The Immigration Health Surcharge, however, is refunded in full if leave is refused, and pro-rated if the holder leaves the UK before the granted leave period ends.

Do dependants pay the same fee as the main applicant?

Dependants pay the same Home Office application fee as the main applicant on the Skilled Worker route. Dependant children pay the lower IHS rate of £776 per year compared with the £1,035 adult rate. There is no family discount on the Home Office fees: each person on the application is a separate fee event.

Why is the inside-UK fee higher than the outside-UK fee?

The Home Office charges a premium of roughly £200 per person on in-country Skilled Worker applications to reflect the cost of in-country processing and biometric handling. The premium applies whether the applicant is extending an existing Skilled Worker visa or switching from another route. The fee schedule itself is set in the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations.

How much does priority service add to the total?

Priority service adds £500 per applicant for a five-working-day decision. Super priority service adds £1,000 per applicant for a next-working-day decision. Both are charged per person, not per family, so for a family of four super priority adds £4,000 to the bill. Both services require an appointment at a specific visa application centre offering the priority option.

Can the employer pay the Skilled Worker visa cost?

Yes. There is no Home Office rule preventing a UK employer from paying the visa cost on behalf of the applicant, and some employers do so as part of an international hiring package. The Certificate of Sponsorship fee and the Immigration Skills Charge are employer costs by statute. The application fee, IHS and biometric enrolment are nominally the applicant's cost but can be paid or reimbursed by the employer under the terms of an employment contract. Tax treatment varies and should be checked with a payroll adviser.

Sources

Disclaimer: The figures on this page are estimates based on the Home Office fee schedule current at the date shown. Kael Tripton Ltd is not authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner, or the Financial Conduct Authority and does not provide immigration advice. For application-specific advice consult a regulated immigration adviser. Always verify fees against the current gov.uk schedule before transferring funds.