Cost Calculator
Estimate the total cost of your UK visa application, including the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) and priority service fees.
1. Application Details
2. Processing Speed
Cost Summary
Estimated Total (GBP)
All fees are non-refundable even if your visa is refused. Rates reflect the April 2026 Home Office fee schedule.
Maintenance Funds
You may also need to prove you have at least £1,270 in personal savings held for 28 consecutive days.
Understanding UK visa costs in 2026
UK visa costs have two mandatory components, the Home Office application fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge, plus optional priority processing and biometrics charges. Here is what each element covers and how it is calculated.
Home Office application fee
Every UK visa application carries a non-refundable Home Office fee set by the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations. Skilled Worker fees range from £719 (new entrant, up to 3 years) to £1,420 (experienced, over 3 years). Student visas are £490 from outside the UK. Visitor visas start at £115 for a standard 6-month entry. Fees were last uplifted in April 2024 and are subject to annual review.
Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS)
The IHS is paid upfront alongside most long-stay visa applications and gives access to NHS healthcare on the same terms as UK residents. The standard rate is £1,035 per person per year (from January 2024). Students and Youth Mobility applicants pay a reduced rate of £776 per person per year. The IHS is calculated by rounding the visa duration up to the nearest complete year, a 2-year 1-month visa is charged as 3 years. It applies separately to the main applicant and each dependant.
Priority and super-priority processing
Standard processing targets 3 weeks for most routes. Priority service (£500 add-on in most countries) targets 5 working days. Super-priority (£1,000 add-on, UK applications only) targets next working day. Priority slots are limited and sell out quickly, especially in Q1 and around fee-uplift dates. Not all routes offer priority; Health and Care Worker and some Global Talent endorsement pathways have separate timelines.
Biometrics and UKVCAS service fees
Applicants enrolling biometrics at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) centre pay a service charge ranging from £0 (core appointment at a standard site) to £200+ for an enhanced or out-of-hours appointment. Outside the UK, biometrics are enrolled at a Visa Application Centre (VAC); fees vary by country. Separate appointment charges apply for dependants.
Sponsor licence and Certificate of Sponsorship
Employer costs are separate from applicant costs. A new sponsor licence costs £536 (small employer) or £1,476 (medium/large). Issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) costs £239 per worker for a skilled worker visa. These are borne by the employer, though some employers pass them to workers, which may or may not be permitted depending on the route.
What is not included in this calculator
This calculator covers mandatory Home Office fees and IHS. It does not include: solicitor or immigration adviser fees (typically £500 to £3,000 for a standard application), translation costs for non-English documents, mandatory English language test fees (IELTS/OET: £150 to £270), tuberculosis (TB) test fees (£50 to £200 in many countries), biometric enrolment centre charges, or any government document fees in the applicant's home country.
Edited & verified by
UKDesk Editorial, Editor & Researcher
Reads gov.uk, HMRC and ONS source pages, verifies every figure, and writes the plain-English explainers on UKDesk.