Immigration fees to increase significantly from 4 October

The Home Office has published details of the new immigration fees which will take effect at 9am, Wednesday 4 October 2023.

What are the new immigration fees?

Changes include:

• A 20% increase in the Certificate of Sponsorship assignment fee for Skilled Worker and Global Business Mobility applications, from £199 to £239
• A 15% increase in the Skilled Worker, Global Business Mobility, Global Talent, Graduate, Innovator Founder, Start-Up, and High Potential Individual visa application fees
• The cost of the optional overseas priority processing service for non-settlement applications will double, from £250 to £500
• A 25% increase in the cost of the optional super priority service for in-country applications, up from £800 to £1,000
• Visit visa fees will increase by up to 15%
• A 20% increase in fees for indefinite leave to remain applications, from £2,404 to £2,885
• A 20% increase in fees to register or apply for British citizenship
• The fee for applying for a student visa from outside the UK will rise by £127 to £490, to equal the amount charged for in-country applications.

The publication of the new fees follows the Government’s announcement in July that it would be increasing immigration fees to help fund public sector pay increases.

A 66% increase to the Immigration Health Surcharge (the mandatory fee applied to migrants to provide access to NHS services) is also expected to be introduced later in the Autumn.

Our recommendations

Those wishing to avoid the increased fees need to act now as there is just a short window to file an application before the fee increases go live. You should also bear in mind that depending on where an individual is currently based, and their personal circumstances (including nationality and current immigration status), they may need to obtain additional documents, such as satisfying the English language requirement, and/or securing a TB certificate etc., before being ready to file. There is also always the possibility that the Home Office’s own digital systems will struggle to cope with the increase in applications as applicants rush to submit before 4 October, as well as there being a risk of the website going down down in the days before the deadline. With this in mind, we strongly recommend aiming for submission a few days before 4 October, to avoid being unable to submit due to this final rush.

For further information on our immigration services, please click here. To learn more about UK immigration changes, please contact our Immigration team.