United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Skilled Worker visa: government fee breakdown
By Sam Parks · Last checked:
Source auto-reconfirmed 23 July 2026 by the daily automated check (figures unchanged since last review).
The UK Skilled Worker visa costs around £3,950 in government fees for a single applicant on a 3-year grant at the general rate, dominated by the £1,035/year Immigration Health Surcharge.
These are the fees paid to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland government. For sponsored routes, the payer varies by country and component; use the item notes and primary source to confirm whether the sponsor, applicant, or both pay. Fees for dependants, priority services, or higher salary bands may change the total.
How much does the Skilled Worker visa cost in United Kingdom?
The UK Skilled Worker visa costs around £3,950 in government fees for a single applicant on a 3-year grant at the general rate, dominated by the £1,035/year Immigration Health Surcharge.
Verified against GOV.UK — Skilled Worker visa: how much it costs on 1 June 2026.
UK work-route money stack
UK Skilled Worker cost, salary and settlement answer
Read the UK Skilled Worker route as one stack: visa fee, IHS, maintenance funds, salary floor and the 5-year ILR planning clock. The Health and Care Worker route is kept separate because its IHS and salary rules are materially different.
Skilled Worker costs
Application fee £819; IHS £3,105; show-only maintenance £1,270.
Modelled paid-away range: £3,924-£4,044; show-only range: £1,270.
Salary floor
General floor £41,700/year; discounted ISL/tradeable floor £33,400/year.
The occupation-specific going rate can still bind higher than the headline floor.
Health and Care split
Application fee £324; IHS £0; salary floor £25,000/year.
The IHS exemption is the reason this route should not be collapsed into a generic Skilled Worker cost claim.
- Full UK migration cost builder
- Skilled Worker cost-to-complete
- UK salary thresholds
- Skilled Worker points calculator
- UK ILR date calculator
- Health and Care Worker route
- Health and Care cost-to-complete
- Health and Care fee breakdown
Source dates: cost models checked 30 June 2026 and 1 July 2026; UK salary thresholds checked 30 May 2026. These links support retrieval and review, not ranking, traffic or market-share outcome claims.
Headline total
£3,943.20
Single applicant, 3-year CoS, general rate, no priority
No changes recorded for this figure since 1 June 2026.
Currency
GBP (Pound sterling)
Last checked
1 June 2026
Itemised fees
| Fee component | Amount | Mandatory? |
|---|---|---|
Application fee (up to 3 years, outside UK, Immigration Salary List)# Applies where the occupation is on the Immigration Salary List. General rate is higher. | £628 | Optional |
Application fee (up to 3 years, outside UK, general)# | £819 | Yes |
Application fee (more than 3 years, outside UK, general)# Used when CoS duration exceeds 3 years. Choose one of the two tiers, not both. | £1,618 | Optional |
Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS)# Reduced to £776/year for students and under-18s. Paid upfront as a lump sum. | £1,035per year of leave, per person | Yes |
Certificate of Sponsorship fee# Paid by the sponsor at CoS assignment. Usually embedded in the job offer. More than doubled from £239 to £525 on 9 April 2025 (held at £525 in the 8 April 2026 fees table). | £525 | Yes |
Biometric enrolment# In-UK UKVCAS enrolment fee; for applications from outside the UK biometrics are enrolled at an overseas VAC and charged separately by the commercial partner. Not centrally published as a single GOV.UK figure — verify with your VAC. | £19.20 | Yes |
Priority service (optional)# Targets a 5-working-day decision from abroad (subject to availability). | £500 | Optional |
Super-priority service (optional, in-country only)# Targets next-working-day decision. Not available at every VAC. | £1,000 | Optional |
Worked example
Single applicant, 3-year CoS, general rate, no priority — £3,943.20
- £819 application fee
- £3,105 IHS (£1,035 × 3 years)
- £19.20 biometrics
- Plus £525 CoS fee (typically borne by the sponsor)
How to read these fees
The £3,943.20 headline covers single applicant, 3-year CoS, general rate, no priority. Of the 8 components listed above, 4 are mandatory and 4 are optional add-ons (such as priority processing) you can choose to skip. The single biggest mandatory line is Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) at £1,035.
Bringing family changes the total — see the dependant section below. Treat the figure as a planning estimate rather than a quote: confirm each line on the official source linked below on the day you pay, because these fees are revised regularly.
Dependant fees
Each dependant pays the same application fee as the main applicant plus their own IHS at £1,035/year (or £776/year if under 18).
Dependant rights are narrowed for the Health and Care Worker care-sector subset and for some student sponsors — verify eligibility on GOV.UK before assuming dependants are permitted.
Why fees change
IHS rose 66% on 6 February 2024 and remains £1,035/year. The 8 April 2026 fees table raised the standard out-of-UK application fee to £819 (≤3 years) and more than doubled the Certificate of Sponsorship fee to £525 (from £239). Always confirm the current figures on GOV.UK before budgeting. The figure to watch is the Immigration Health Surcharge: at £1,035 per person per year it dwarfs the application fee, so a longer grant or extra family members move the total far more than the visa fee itself.
Primary source
GOV.UK — Skilled Worker visa: how much it costs
https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/how-much-it-costs
Cite or reuse this dataset
This figure is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0. Cite the Visa Atlas page for the compiled, dated dataset, and cite the official source for the underlying government rule.
Suggested citation
Visa Atlas, "Skilled Worker visa fee schedule", https://visaatlas.org/fees/uk/skilled-worker. Last verified 1 June 2026.
- JSON endpoint
- https://visaatlas.org/api/public/fees
Frequently asked questions
How much does the Skilled Worker visa cost in government fees?
The UK Skilled Worker visa costs around £3,950 in government fees for a single applicant on a 3-year grant at the general rate, dominated by the £1,035/year Immigration Health Surcharge. The worked example assumes single applicant, 3-year cos, general rate, no priority, totalling £3,943.20. Fees for dependants, priority service, or higher-tier salary bands change the total — see the itemised table above.
Are these fees refundable if my application is refused?
Most application fees are non-refundable once the government begins processing. Some jurisdictions refund specific components (e.g. Canada's Right of Permanent Residence Fee refunds if refused; UK IHS refunds if the visa is refused). Check the linked primary source for the route you are applying to.
How often do these fees change?
IHS rose 66% on 6 February 2024 and remains £1,035/year. The 8 April 2026 fees table raised the standard out-of-UK application fee to £819 (≤3 years) and more than doubled the Certificate of Sponsorship fee to £525 (from £239). Always confirm the current figures on GOV.UK before budgeting. The figure to watch is the Immigration Health Surcharge: at £1,035 per person per year it dwarfs the application fee, so a longer grant or extra family members move the total far more than the visa fee itself.
Do dependants pay the same fees as the primary applicant?
Each dependant pays the same application fee as the main applicant plus their own IHS at £1,035/year (or £776/year if under 18).
Next steps
Full visa guide
Eligibility, application steps, and FAQs for the Skilled Worker visa.
Processing time
How long the Skilled Worker visa takes from application to decision.
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Reviewed by Sam Parks, Editor and lead researcher.