The British government has announced that UK tourist visas for stays of less than six months will cost ₹1,543 (£15) more and UK student visas will be ₹13,070 (£127) more expensive for travelers from around the world, including Indians.
UK visa fees hiked: The government led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had decided to implement the hike on student visas and visitor or tourist visas from October 4. The British government had announced that UK tourist visas for stays of less than six months would cost ₹1,543 (£15) more and UK student visas would be ₹13,070 (£127) more expensive for travelers from around the world, including Indians.
UK student, tourist visa fees increased
The UK Home Office had previously indicated a 15% increase in the cost of most work and tourist visas in the UK and at least a 20% increase in the cost of priority visas, study visas and certificates of sponsorship in the UK. The increase in fees applies to the following visa categories –
- Health and care visa
- Application for registration and naturalization as a British citizen
- Fees for visit visas for six months, two, five and 10 years
- This increase also applies to most fees for entry clearance and some applications for leave to remain in the UK
- Those for work and study
- Entry fee for indefinite leave and fee for indefinite leave
- Fees in respect of sponsorship certificate and confirmation of acceptance for study
UK Student Visa Fee: How much will you pay now
The UK Home Office has informed that the fee for applying for a UK student visa from outside the UK will increase to ₹50,428 (£490).
UK tourist visa fee: how much will you pay now
The UK Home Office has informed that the changes mean that the cost of a UK visit visa for a stay of less than six months will increase to ₹11,835 (£115).
UK work visa fee: how much will you pay now
As Freeth pointed out in an earlier Mint article, if you’re migrating to the UK with a skilled worker visa (where a certificate of sponsorship is issued for three years or less), you’ll need to pay ₹77,147 ( £718) must be paid. Currently the fee for this visa category is £625.
Why is the UK implementing a visa fee increase?
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in July that fees and health surcharges paid by visa applicants to the UK’s state-funded National Health Service (NHS) would be increased to meet the country’s public sector pay rise. Will be increased significantly.
“All those fees are going to increase and that will raise over £1 billion, so there is going to be a significant increase in visa application fees across the board and similarly for IHS,” he said.
Sunak justified that the move was “completely right” as these charges had not been increased recently. and cited that the UK visa fee increase is justified as costs have increased since the previous increase.
