How much does a UK work visa cost?

The Skilled Worker visa fee is £819 to £1,865, depending on how long you stay and where you apply. The Health and Care Worker fee is £324 or £628. The immigration health surcharge is usually £1,035 per year. Your employer, not you, pays the immigration skills charge. All figures are from GOV.UK.

How much is the Skilled Worker visa fee?

The fee depends on where you apply and how long you will be in the UK. Everyone who applies pays it.

Where you apply	Up to 3 years	More than 3 years
Outside the UK	£819	£1,618
Inside the UK, to extend, switch or update	£943	£1,865
Job on the immigration salary list, inside or outside the UK	£628	£1,235

The lower fee is for jobs on the immigration salary list. A partner or child who applies to join you pays the fee for the same length of time as you. See the Skilled Worker fees guide for the full breakdown.

GOV.UK gives one example. Take a 2-year Skilled Worker visa, applied for from Argentina, for a job that is not on the immigration salary list. The fee is £819. You also pay £1,035 for each year of the stay for the healthcare surcharge. The total when you apply is £2,889.

How much is the Health and Care Worker visa fee?

Length of stay	Fee per person
Up to 3 years	£324
More than 3 years	£628

The fee is the same whether you apply from inside or outside the UK. Read more in the Health and Care Worker visa guide.

How much do other work visas cost?

These are the fees on each visa’s GOV.UK page, per person:

Visa	Application fee
Senior or Specialist Worker	£819 or £1,618 outside the UK; £943 or £1,865 inside the UK (up to 3 years or more than 3 years)
Scale-up Worker	£937
Graduate	£937
High Potential Individual	£880, plus £252 (including VAT) for Ecctis to check your qualification
Global Talent	£766 in total: £561 for the endorsement and £205 for the visa. If you won an eligible prize, £766 for the visa
Innovator Founder	£1,357 outside the UK; £1,693 inside the UK
UK Expansion Worker, Graduate Trainee, Service Supplier, Secondment Worker	£340
Seasonal, Creative, Charity, Religious, Government Authorised Exchange, International Agreement	£340
Youth Mobility Scheme	£340
India Young Professionals Scheme	£340

Innovator Founder applicants also pay the endorsing body directly:

• £1,000 for an endorsement
• £500 each time they meet the endorsing body, at least twice during the stay

How much is the immigration health surcharge?

The immigration health surcharge (IHS) is a fee you pay towards UK healthcare. Most people pay it as part of the online application. You pay it if you apply for more than 6 months from outside the UK, or for any length of time from inside the UK.

Who you are	Cost per year
Most visa and immigration applicants	£1,035
Students and their dependants, Youth Mobility Scheme visa holders, and applicants under 18 when they apply	£776

GOV.UK’s examples:

• a 3-year visa at £1,035 per year costs £3,105
• a 2-year Youth Mobility Scheme visa costs £1,552 (the India Young Professionals Scheme page also gives £1,552)

If your visa is not a whole number of years, GOV.UK says:

Visa length	Surcharge
6 months or less, applying outside the UK	Not payable
6 months or less, applying inside the UK	Half the yearly cost (£517.50 at the £1,035 rate)
More than 6 months but less than 1 year	A full year
More than 1 year, 18 months or less	The yearly cost plus half the yearly cost
More than 18 months but less than 2 years	2 full years

Health and Care Worker visa holders and their dependants do not pay the surcharge. You pay it by debit or credit card. You may be able to get a refund if you work in health or care. You get a full refund if your application is refused or you withdraw it before a decision.

What is the immigration skills charge?

The immigration skills charge is a fee your employer (the sponsor) pays when it gives you a certificate of sponsorship. It applies to Skilled Worker and Senior or Specialist Worker visas in these cases:

• you apply from outside the UK to work for 6 months or more
• you apply from inside the UK, for any length of time

The sponsor does not pay it for your partner or children.

Period	Small or charitable sponsors	Medium or large sponsors
First 12 months	£480	£1,320
Each additional 6 months	£240	£660

The sponsor must pay the charge itself. Its licence may be revoked if it asks you to pay the fee or any costs linked to the application. For some occupation codes the charge is not payable. See the immigration skills charge guide for the exemptions and refunds.

What other costs are there?

• Certificate of sponsorship fee: the sponsor pays £525 per certificate for a worker (£55 for a temporary worker). The sponsor must pay this itself for these visas: Skilled Worker, Global Business Mobility, Minister of Religion, International Sportsperson, Scale-up Worker and Seasonal Worker.
• Sponsor licence: £611 for small businesses and charities, or £1,682 for medium and large organisations (from the Skilled Worker page).
• Money to support yourself: at least £1,270 held for 28 days in a row, unless you are exempt or your employer covers your first month. The Youth Mobility Scheme and India Young Professionals Scheme need £2,530.
• Visa application centre appointment: most centres offer free appointments within 5 working days. In some places a standard appointment costs £76.50.
• Faster decision: £500 for the priority service or £1,000 for super priority, per person. See processing times.