Policy Update · 5 min read
Your Guide to UK Visa Fees from October 2026: No Price Hikes Confirmed
Good news for UK visa applicants: the Home Office has confirmed that visa fees from 8 October 2026 will not increase from the rates set in April 2026. This means no rush to apply before a price hike, allowing you to budget confidently for your sponsored move to the UK. We break down the confirmed costs for popular routes like Skilled Worker, Student, and employer sponsor licences.
Planning your move to the UK or extending your stay often comes with one big question: how much is this all going to cost? It's a natural worry, especially with visa fees changing regularly. Well, we have some important news for you straight from the Home Office regarding fees effective from 8 October 2026, and it's quite positive: there are no new increases.
On 10 September 2026, the Home Office updated its official "UK visa fees" policy paper, publishing a new table of "Home Office immigration and nationality fees, 8 October 2026". After a careful line-by-line comparison against the previous 8 April 2026 schedule, we've found that all 141 fee line items remain exactly the same. This means that while the Home Office has officially confirmed the fee schedule for the upcoming months, the prices themselves haven't gone up from what was set in April.
This is good news for anyone budgeting for a UK sponsored move this autumn or winter, especially Skilled Worker and Health and Care applicants, those switching visas in the UK, and employers weighing the cost of a sponsor licence. It removes the pressure of needing to rush an application before a potential price hike. The fees you pay will be those in force on the date your payment is processed.
Key UK Visa Application Fees from 8 October 2026
Many of our WiseRoute readers are interested in the Skilled Worker, Student, and Health and Care routes. Here's a clear breakdown of the application fees that apply from 8 October 2026. Remember, these are the application fees only and do not include the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) or the Immigration Skills Charge, which are separate costs. Total costs depend on your dependants, route length, and priority service, you can get an exact breakdown with our free UK visa cost calculator.
Skilled Worker Visa Fees (Main Applicant)
These fees apply to the main applicant for the Skilled Worker route. Dependants will have similar fees.
- Applying from outside the UK:
Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) valid for up to 3 years: £819 per person CoS valid for over 3 years: £1,618 per person
- On the Immigration Salary List (applying from outside the UK):
CoS valid for up to 3 years: £628 CoS valid for over 3 years: £1,235
- Health and Care Visa (discounted Skilled Worker rate, applying from outside the UK):
CoS valid for up to 3 years: £324 CoS valid for over 3 years: £628
- Applying from inside the UK (switching or extending):
CoS valid for up to 3 years: £943 CoS valid for over 3 years: £1,865
This means, for instance, if you're looking to switch from a Graduate visa to a Skilled Worker visa in the UK for a two-year role, your application fee would be £943. If you're coming from outside the UK for a four-year contract in a role not on the Immigration Salary List, you'd pay £1,618.
Other Popular Visa Route Fees
- Student Visa: £558
- Graduate Route Visa: £937
- High Potential Individual (HPI) Visa: £880
- Scale-up Visa: £937
- Global Talent Visa (main applicant, approval letter not required): £766
- Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR): £3,226
- Naturalisation (to become a British citizen): £1,709 (plus a £130 citizenship ceremony fee)
Costs for Employers: Sponsor Licence and Certificates of Sponsorship
For the more than 127,000 organisations currently licensed to sponsor workers in the UK, these fees are also confirmed. Understanding these costs is crucial for employers deciding whether to offer sponsorship. Finding an employer willing to sponsor is the first big step, and you can start exploring opportunities right away by filtering sponsors on the Skilled Worker route in our comprehensive directory.
Here are the employer-side costs effective from 8 October 2026:
- Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) - Skilled Worker, T2 Minister of Religion, GBM Senior or Specialist Worker: £525
- Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) - Temporary Worker and Scale-up: £55
- Worker Sponsor Licence:
Large sponsor: £1,682 Small sponsor or charity: £611
- Priority Sponsor Licence Service: £750
- Expedited Sponsor Management System (SMS) Request: £350
- Sponsor Action Plan: £1,579
To give you an idea, a small employer looking to sponsor one Skilled Worker would face initial costs of £611 for the sponsor licence and £525 for the Certificate of Sponsorship, not including the Immigration Skills Charge or the worker's own application fees and IHS. These costs are important for businesses to factor into their recruitment budgets.
Structural Changes in the New Fee Table
While the fees themselves haven't changed, the 8 October 2026 table does reflect some ongoing structural updates in UK immigration policy. Most notably:
- The main applicant lines for the Start-up, Tier 1 (Entrepreneur), and Tier 1 (Investor) routes have been removed. These routes were already closed to new main applicants, and the fee table now reflects this by only listing dependant application fees for them.
- The Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) dependants line has been removed entirely, aligning with the closure of that specific route.
- The