UK Raises Visa Fees For Nigerians From April 8
The United Kingdom will raise visa, settlement and citizenship application fees across nearly all categories from April 8, 2026, in a move set to affect thousands of Nigerians seeking to travel, study, work or relocate to the country.
The fee changes, published by the UK Home Office on March 18, cover visit visas, student visas, work permits, settlement routes, travel documents and nationality applications, with most charges increasing by roughly six to seven per cent.
For Nigerians, who remain among the largest groups of UK visa applicants each year, the revision is expected to increase the already high cost of migration and legal stay in Britain.
Among the revised charges, the standard short-term visit visa will rise from £127 to £135, while the student visa will increase from £524 to £558. The fee for indefinite leave to remain will move from £3,029 to £3,226, while naturalisation as a British citizen will increase from £1,605 to £1,709.
One of the few exceptions is the registration fee for children applying for British citizenship, which will fall from £1,214 to £1,000.
The Home Office said the changes are tied to inflation and form part of broader efforts to reduce the public cost of running the immigration system. The revised fees also come after earlier increases to the Immigration Skills Charge and the Immigration Health Surcharge, both of which have already added pressure to migrants and sponsors.
Although some of the individual increases appear modest, the overall financial burden on applicants is expected to be much higher once mandatory health surcharge payments, dependant applications, documentation costs and employer sponsorship expenses are added.
The increase is likely to be felt most sharply by international students, families, and skilled workers from countries such as Nigeria, where exchange rate pressures have already made UK migration significantly more expensive in naira terms.
Under the new rates, long-term visit visas will also cost more, with the two-year visa rising from £475 to £506, the five-year option from £848 to £903, and the 10-year route from £1,059 to £1,128.
Work-related categories are also affected. The Skilled Worker visa will rise from £769 to £819 for applications of up to three years, and from £1,519 to £1,618 for longer durations. The Health and Care Visa will move from £304 to £324 for up to three years and from £590 to £628 for longer applications.
Other affected routes include the Graduate visa, Innovator Founder route, Scale-up visa, Start-up visa, temporary work routes and Global Business Mobility categories.
Settlement-related fees are also increasing. Applications under the route to settlement will rise from £1,938 to £2,064, while other dependant relative applications will move from £3,413 to £3,635. In-country visitor extension and other leave to remain categories will also become more expensive.
Nationality and documentation fees are included in the revision as well. Registration as a British citizen for adults will rise from £1,446 to £1,540, while renunciation and nationality review applications will increase from £482 to £513. Travel documents for adults and children will also attract new charges.
Applications submitted before April 8 will still be processed under the current rates, but any application filed on or after that date will attract the new charges.
The revised fee structure comes at a time when the UK continues to tighten immigration costs while maintaining strong demand from international applicants, particularly from countries with longstanding education, employment and family migration ties to Britain.