With little fanfare, the Home Office has published a revised Immigration and Nationality Fees Order that will ratchet up the cost of nearly every UK immigration route. A Glasgow-based immigration consultancy first spotted the changes and warned clients on 14 April that "significant increases" are imminent. Although the implementation date has not yet been fixed, officials generally give only weeks of notice. Headlining the package is a steep jump in the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS)—from £624 to £1,035 per adult per year and £470 to £776 for children and students—representing a 66 % increase. Five-year skilled-worker applications will therefore attract an additional £2,055 in IHS alone, before visa fees are counted. Work and visit-visa charges will climb 15 %, while settlement, citizenship and student-visa fees will rise by "at least 20 %" according to the advisory note. Certificates of Sponsorship, biometric enrolment and priority-service premiums are also expected to go up in the same statutory instrument.
For companies managing volume assignments, the early warning is critical. Mobility teams can still file extensions or in-country switches at the current fee level if applications are lodged before the change takes effect.
![UK government signals across-the-board visa fee hikes, including 66 % rise in health surcharge]()
In this tightening fee environment, VisaHQ can act as a pressure-valve: its UK platform (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/) tracks live government pricing, supplies customised document checklists and lets both employers and individual travellers file applications online. Using the service to lodge cases now can lock in the lower fees, while its alerts system keeps users informed of any further Home Office announcements.
Finance departments should also revisit assignment cost projections and recharge policies to avoid budget overruns in Q2. Individual travellers—particularly family reunion and ancestry applicants—are being urged to submit before the price-rise window closes. Industry groups are calling for a wider conversation about the cumulative cost burden employers face, arguing that higher fees risk undermining the UK’s competitiveness for global talent just as competitors such as Canada and Germany simplify their own visa regimes.
For companies managing volume assignments, the early warning is critical. Mobility teams can still file extensions or in-country switches at the current fee level if applications are lodged before the change takes effect.
In this tightening fee environment, VisaHQ can act as a pressure-valve: its UK platform (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/) tracks live government pricing, supplies customised document checklists and lets both employers and individual travellers file applications online. Using the service to lodge cases now can lock in the lower fees, while its alerts system keeps users informed of any further Home Office announcements.
Finance departments should also revisit assignment cost projections and recharge policies to avoid budget overruns in Q2. Individual travellers—particularly family reunion and ancestry applicants—are being urged to submit before the price-rise window closes. Industry groups are calling for a wider conversation about the cumulative cost burden employers face, arguing that higher fees risk undermining the UK’s competitiveness for global talent just as competitors such as Canada and Germany simplify their own visa regimes.
