Fee hikes for sponsorship and visas will be implemented on April 9th, as stated on March 19th by the UK Home Office. Fee rises affect almost everyone on the list, including sponsors, those seeking for settlement or citizenship, and Skilled Worker visa holders. Depending on the modification, the gains may be as little as £8.50 (which makes one ask why bother, to be honest? the associated paperwork must certainly eat up all or most of the extra profits) to as high as £286. This page provides a summary of the main changes.
- Skilled Workers, Global Business Mobility – Senior or Specialist Workers, Ministers of Religion, and International Sportsperson (over 12 months) will see the most significant rise in Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) payments, going from £239 to £525.
- Applications for Skilled Worker status for a maximum of three years (outside the UK):
- Prior to this: £719
- Price change: £769
- Application for Skilled Worker status for a maximum of five years (outside the UK):
- Prior to this: £1,420
- Total cost: £1,519
- For a maximum of three years (in the UK), Skilled Worker Applications:
- Prior to this: £827
- Total cost: £885
- For a maximum of five years (in the UK), Skilled Worker Applications:
- At one point: £1,636
- Price change: £1,751
- Depending on the duration of the visa, Skilled Worker positions on the Immigration Salary List (formerly the Shortage Occupation List) will see rises of £39 £76.
- Medium and big sponsors will see a £103 rise, from £1,476 to £1,579, in their sponsor licence payments.
- There will be a rise from £2,885 to £3,029 for Indefinite Leave to Remain (Settlement).
- From £1,500 to £1,605, Naturalisation (also known as British Citizenship) will increase.
- A child’s Convention Travel Document will now cost £61.50 instead of £53, due to the application of the smallest increase of £8.50 that is unrelated to sponsorship.
Premium services, such priority processing costs, will stay mostly the same, which is surprising since it seems like they would be simpler to sell.
Businesses who sponsor workers will see a rise in expenses as a result of these hikes, while migrants arriving in the UK will face greater financial hardships. The government’s ongoing crackdown on immigration and increased scrutiny of sponsor compliance highlight the need for employers to account for these developments when allocating funds for recruiting.
The most current Statement of Changes from the Home Office, dated 12 March 2024, indicated that certain payments would be subtracted from a Skilled Worker’s wage starting from 9 April in order to determine whether it fulfills the minimum salary requirement. Payments for immigration, business, or investment related expenses fall under this category. Specifically:
- Income taxes;
- loan repayments; or
- investment returns.
Whether an employer deducts sponsorship costs or visa fees from an employee’s compensation, those amounts will be deducted from the employee’s salary when deciding whether they fulfill the wage requirement for the Skilled Worker visa.
As we await the introduction of the revised caseworker guidelines, we will need further information about the practical implications of this.
Go to the official Home Office website for all the information on the new price structure: UK Visa and Immigration Fees – April 2025.