UK Visa Fees in 2026: Visitor, Student, Work, and Spouse Visa Costs

Standard visitor visas in the UK cost a minimum of £127, while long-term visit visas and student visas start at £475 and £524, respectively.

Work visas start higher depending on category, and settlement or partner visas exceed £1,900 before the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS).

Based on the latest published Home Office fee schedules, applicants who want to live in the UK should expect to pay at least the 2025 rates, because no separate 2026-only pricing has been announced.

Since the UK adjusts fees almost every year, these figures represent the minimum applicants should prepare for in 2026.

The UK uses annual fee revisions to recover immigration system costs, and most categories, especially work, family, and settlement routes, regularly experience increases.

Visa applicants in 2026 should therefore budget not only for the application fee itself but also for the IHS, service-centre charges, priority processing, and other add-ons that significantly raise the total cost.

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The information in this article is for general guidance only. It does not constitute financial, legal, or tax advice, and is not a recommendation or solicitation to invest. Some facts may have changed since the time of writing.

This article covers:

• UK Visa Costs 2026
• UK Visa Fee Increase in 2026
• IHS Fee for UK Visas in 2026
• UK Visitor Visa Cost 2026

Key Takeaways:

• 2026 UK visa applicants should expect pricing equal to or higher than 2025 rates.
• Visitor visas start at £127; settlement visas exceed £1,900 before IHS.
• The IHS (£1,035 per year) is often the largest cost component.
• UK visa fees change regularly, so applicants must check the latest schedule.

How Much Is the UK Visa Fee for 2026?

Standard visitor visas begin at £127, long-term visitor visas range from £475 to £1,059, student visas cost £524, and settlement visas go over £1,900.

Other visa categories such as skilled work, youth mobility, and family routes fall between these ranges.

Because the UK typically increases fees annually, 2026 applicants should anticipate small upward adjustments across major categories rather than price reductions.

The UK has not released a dedicated 2026 fee schedule yet, but applicants can use the most recent Home Office pricing, updated in April and July 2025, as the baseline for 2026.

These figures already reflect the UK’s post-inflation adjustments and revenue-recovery targets, making them the minimum expected costs for the following year.

These fees cover only the application itself. Most long-term visas like work, student, and family require adding the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), biometric enrolment, and optional services offered by visa application centres.

In practice, the total cost for a multiyear visa can be several times higher than the base fee published by the Home Office.

Are UK Visa Fees Increasing in 2026?

While no official 2026 increase has been announced, the Home Office has raised visa fees repeatedly over the past decade, often by modest annual increments and occasionally by large structural adjustments.

The UK government openly states that immigration and nationality charges are designed not only to recover administrative costs but also to fund wider border and enforcement operations.

This policy direction makes further increases in 2026 more likely than not, especially for high-demand categories such as work and settlement routes.

The most significant increases in recent years were concentrated in family visas, work visas, and the IHS, or categories that contribute substantially to the Home Office’s cost-recovery model.

Even without an official announcement, applicants planning for 2026 should assume that fees will continue rising in line with inflation, operational costs, and the government’s broader fiscal strategy.

What Is the IHS Fee for UK Visas in 2026?

As of the latest update, the standard rate is £1,035 per year, and no revised 2026-specific rate has been announced.

The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) remains one of the largest components of the total cost for anyone staying in the UK for more than six months.

Unless the Home Office introduces another increase, which it has done several times over the past decade, applicants in 2026 should assume the current rate holds or rises slightly.

The IHS is paid in full, upfront, for the entire duration of the visa. A three-year visa therefore requires roughly £3,105 in IHS alone, on top of the application fee.

The surcharge grants access to the National Health Service (NHS), which is why it applies to most long-term visa routes: student visas, work visas, partner visas, and many family routes. Visitors staying less than six months are exempt.

The IHS cannot be paid in installments, and it is typically non-refundable unless the application is withdrawn before biometrics or the Home Office rejects the application before consideration begins.

For most applicants, it is the single largest cost they will face when moving to the UK.

How Much Is the Total Cost of a UK Visitor Visa in 2026?

For 2026, applicants should expect at least the current fee levels: £127 for a standard six-month visitor visa. These visas are the simplest and cheapest category, and they do not require paying the IHS.

Long-term visitor visas which are designed for frequent travellers are significantly more expensive. A two-year visa is £475, a five-year visa is £848, and the longest ten-year option costs £1,059.

The higher fees reflect longer validity rather than multiple entry permissions, which all standard visit visas already include.

However, the application fee is only part of the total cost. Service-centre charges, biometrics, optional priority or super-priority processing, and local administrative fees vary by country and can materially increase the final amount.

Optional services alone can add £100–£500, depending on the level of processing speed chosen.

Despite these add-ons, visit visas remain among the most accessible UK visa categories, and their fees tend to experience smaller year-on-year increases compared to work or settlement routes.

How Much Does a UK Student Visa Cost in 2026?

Student visa applicants in 2026 should expect to pay at least the current £524 application fee for applications made outside the UK.

The far larger expense is the Immigration Health Surcharge, which is charged annually for the full length of the academic program.

With the IHS rate at £1,035 per year, a typical three-year undergraduate degree requires over £3,100 in IHS alone, in addition to the application fee.

Postgraduate programs vary in length, but most fall between one and two years, with corresponding IHS totals.

These costs are before any institution-level requirements. Financial evidence, maintenance funds, and document verification processes do not carry additional Home Office fees, but they influence the total financial burden on the applicant.

Optional priority processing through visa centres also adds to the final cost.

Given the UK’s consistent pattern of incremental annual increases, students planning for 2026 should budget for slightly higher fees than the current schedule, particularly for IHS, which has historically seen periodic jumps.

How Much Is the UK Spouse or Partner Visa in 2026?

As of the most recent schedule, the application fee for a partner visa made outside the UK is above £1,900, and applicants must add 2.5 years of IHS upfront. At the standard IHS rate of £1,035 per year, this totals over £2,500 in health surcharge alone.

Combined with the application fee, the initial cost generally exceeds £4,400, and this does not include optional priority services or document-handling fees from third-party service centres.

Spouse and partner visas remain among the most expensive categories due to long validity periods and mandatory IHS payments.

These visas must later be renewed for another 2.5 years before applicants can reach the five-year minimum toward settlement, making the total long-term cost significantly higher.

Because these routes are core to the UK’s cost-recovery strategy, they tend to see regular fee adjustments.

Couples planning to apply in 2026 should therefore prepare for the possibility of further increases and budget accordingly.

How Much Does a UK Work Visa Cost in 2026?

The Skilled Worker visa has base fees that scale with the length of the certificate of sponsorship. Shorter visas typically cost several hundred pounds, while multiyear visas rise accordingly.

These fees are only the starting point. Almost all work visas require the Immigration Health Surcharge at £1,035 per year, which can add several thousand pounds to the total cost when paid upfront for multi-year visas.

Work visa costs vary widely depending on the specific route, but all indications suggest that 2026 applicants should expect at least the current fee levels, with potential upward adjustments.

Employers may also face additional expenses. Depending on the sponsorship arrangement, companies can be responsible for the Immigration Skills Charge, which ranges from hundreds to thousands of pounds per sponsored employee per year.

Although this cost does not fall directly on the applicant, it influences hiring decisions and overall accessibility of the route. Optional fast-track services and local service-centre fees further increase the financial burden.

As the Home Office continues to rely on work visas for revenue recovery, applicants in 2026 should anticipate modest annual increases across most sponsored routes.

Why Are UK Visa Fees So Expensive in 2026?

UK visa fees are set significantly above the actual administrative cost of processing an application.

The Home Office explicitly operates on a cost-recovery and cross-subsidy model: income from visa and immigration fees helps fund application processing, border enforcement, security operations, biometrics infrastructure, and the broader immigration system.

This structure means that high-demand categories especially work, family, and settlement routes carry elevated fees to generate revenue.

Over the past decade, political and fiscal priorities have also shaped pricing. Post-Brexit policy shifts placed greater emphasis on managing migration flows and reducing reliance on taxpayer funding to run the immigration system.

As a result, the UK has consistently raised fees and the IHS, making long-term visas disproportionately expensive.

These increases are not tied to improvements in processing times or service quality; they reflect the government’s broader aim of ensuring that migrants, rather than public funds, shoulder a substantial share of the system’s costs.

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