A UK Skilled Worker visa has more moving costs than most applicants expect: a base application fee that changes with the length of your Certificate of Sponsorship, a health surcharge charged upfront for the whole visa, and — often overlooked — a set of employer-side costs your sponsor is legally barred from passing on to you. Here is the full, current breakdown.
1. The visa application fee
The fee depends on where you apply from and how long your Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) runs:
| Applying from | Up to 3 years | More than 3 years |
|---|---|---|
| Outside the UK | £819 | £1,618 |
| Inside the UK (extend/switch) | £943 | £1,865 |
If your occupation is on the Immigration Salary List (the successor to the old Shortage Occupation List), you pay a reduced fee regardless of where you apply from:
| Up to 3 years | More than 3 years | |
|---|---|---|
| Immigration Salary List role | £628 | £1,235 |
The Health and Care Worker route (a sub-category of Skilled Worker for NHS and adult social care roles) is cheaper still — £324 for up to 3 years or £628 for longer — and these applicants are exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge entirely. Ask your sponsor whether your role qualifies for either reduced rate before you pay the standard fee.
2. The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS)
This is the cost applicants most often underestimate, because it isn’t charged per year like a subscription — it’s charged once, upfront, for the entire length of the visa.
- Standard rate: £1,035 per year
- Reduced rate (students, their dependants, Youth Mobility Scheme applicants, and anyone under 18 at the date of application): £776 per year
So a 5-year Skilled Worker visa means paying 5 × £1,035 = £5,175 in IHS at the point of application, on top of the visa fee itself. For a visa period between 6 and 12 months, you’re charged for a full year; for 6 months or less applied for from outside the UK, no surcharge is due at all — but from inside the UK it’s half the annual rate.
The IHS gives you access to the NHS on broadly the same terms as a resident for the length of your visa — it is not optional and is collected as part of the online application, not separately.
3. Optional: priority and super priority service
These speed up the decision, not the eligibility assessment, and must be selected before your biometrics appointment — you cannot upgrade after submitting at the standard rate:
- Priority service: £500 — decision targeted within 5 working days of biometrics
- Super priority service: £1,000 — decision targeted by the end of the next working day
Not every visa application centre offers both tiers for every route, so check availability when you book your appointment.
4. Dependants (partner and children)
A partner or child joining you pays the same application fee and the same length of IHS as you do — there’s no separate “dependant discount” on the government fee. For a family of three on a 3-year visa at the standard rate, budget three application fees (3 × £819 from outside the UK) plus three IHS payments (3 × 3 × £1,035 = £9,315) before any legal or relocation costs.
5. What your employer pays — and can’t pass on to you
Two costs sit with the sponsoring employer, not you:
- Certificate of Sponsorship fee: £525, paid by the employer when they assign your CoS.
- Immigration Skills Charge (ISC): £480 per year for small or charitable sponsors, £1,320 per year for medium/large sponsors (charged upfront for the CoS duration, in six-month increments).
Since 31 December 2024, Home Office sponsor guidance has explicitly prohibited employers from recovering the ISC, the CoS fee, or the sponsor licence fee from a sponsored worker — doing so puts the sponsor’s licence at risk of suspension or revocation. If an employer asks you to repay any of these three costs (by deduction from salary, a “repayment agreement,” or otherwise), that is a compliance breach you can raise with the Home Office, not a normal condition of the job.
Worked examples
Single applicant, standard route, 3-year CoS, applying from outside the UK: £819 (visa fee) + £3,105 (3 × £1,035 IHS) = £3,924
Single applicant, standard route, 5-year CoS, applying from outside the UK: £1,618 (visa fee) + £5,175 (5 × £1,035 IHS) = £6,793
Immigration Salary List role, 3-year CoS, applying from outside the UK: £628 (visa fee) + £3,105 (IHS) = £3,733
These figures cover the Home Office side only — visa application centre biometric/service fees, document translation, and travel to a visa application centre are separate and vary by country.
FAQ
Does the visa fee include the health surcharge? No. They’re charged separately during the same online application, but the IHS is calculated on top of the application fee, not included in it.
Can I pay the IHS in instalments? No — it’s a single upfront payment for the full length of the visa at the time you apply.
Is the fee refunded if my visa is refused? The application fee is generally non-refundable. The IHS is normally refunded if the application is refused, withdrawn, or refused permission to enter.
Do fees change if I extend rather than apply fresh? Yes — extending or switching from inside the UK costs more than applying from outside (£943 vs £819 for up to 3 years, £1,865 vs £1,618 for longer), and you pay IHS again for the new period.
Before you budget, confirm current figures on GOV.UK, since fees are reviewed periodically — this guide reflects rates in effect as of July 2026. For the paperwork itself, see our UK Skilled Worker visa document checklist and Skilled Worker interview questions. If you’re weighing routes before you have a job offer, the UK Student visa guide covers the Graduate Route path into skilled work, and our sponsor glossary entry explains what your employer’s role actually is in the process.
Getting the costs right early avoids a scramble before your CoS expires. Join the VisaMet waitlist for AI-powered eligibility checks and document screening that flag missing evidence before you pay a single fee.
Sources: GOV.UK — Skilled Worker visa: how much it costs, GOV.UK — Pay for UK healthcare as part of your immigration application, GOV.UK — Immigration skills charge for employers, GOV.UK — Workers and Temporary Workers: sponsor guidance part 3 (sponsor duties and compliance).
This is preparation guidance, not legal or immigration advice. Visa fees and surcharge rates change — always confirm the exact figures for your situation on GOV.UK before you apply.