The UK visa, immigration and nationality price hikes announced by the Prime Minister in July have kicked in this month. 


The price hikes vary with most increases well above the rise in general inflation. For context, when I was started practicing 30 years ago, the Home Office charged nothing at all for visa extensions, work permits or settlement. 


  • The good news is that sponsor licence fees for employers will remain the same, though Certificates of Sponsorship are increasing by 20%.
  • Settlement applications are also set to rise by 20%.
  • Fees for most visit and work visas generally increase by 15% (6% increase only for visitor visas for under two years).
  • Student and child student visa applications from overseas will rise by 35% to £490 to bring them in line with applications in country (which thankfully are not increasing.)
  • The fees for expediting applications in and out of country are being aligned. Priority service (within five working days) for applications will now cost £500, super priority service (one working day) goes up to £1,000.


You can find the full October 2023 Home Office immigration and nationality fee increases here.


The rise in fees follows a controversial announcement by PM Rishi Sunak in the summer when he attempted to link the increase in costs to his current pay disputes with public servants.


Another cost increase to bear in mind, is the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) – the compulsory charge to be able to use of the National Health Service – is also set to increase by about 66%: from £624 to £1,035 per year, with the discounted rate for students, children and youth mobility visa holders increasing from £470 to £776 per year. It has already tripled since it was introduced in 2015 when it cost £200. To put this into context, an adult on a five-year visa will need to pay a total of £5,175 IHS over the course of their stay before paying their visa application fees. The IHS increase is expected to kick in at some point later, possibly in the early months of next year.


If you have any concerns, please feel free to contact us on 0207 033 9527 or at [email protected] for a free initial consultation.