How much does ILR cost?

The application fee

The Home Office publishes one fee for indefinite leave to remain that applies across the work, family and long residence routes. GOV.UK currently lists £3,226 per applicant (checked 9 October 2026), the figure that took effect on 8 April 2026 and was left unchanged in the 8 October 2026 fee table. Fees are usually revised each spring and can change in-year, so confirm the live amount on the immigration and nationality fees table on the day you pay. There is no discount for applying online, for length of residence, or for having paid large sums in visa fees along the way.

The fee is paid when you submit the online form. That payment fixes your application date — which matters for the 28-day early window described in when you can apply for ILR — and starts the protection of your status while the decision is pending.

Dependants pay the full fee each

There is no family rate. A partner and each child included in a settlement application pay the same fee as the main applicant, so a family of four applying together pays four times the headline figure — over £12,900 at the current rate. Children do not get a reduced fee for ILR, and the fee is due whether the dependant applies at the same time as you or later on their own application.

For families this is usually the single largest immigration outlay of the whole route, which is one reason to be certain of everyone’s qualifying dates and absence records before paying: a dependant who is refused because their own absences broke continuous residence loses their fee just as the main applicant would.

No Immigration Health Surcharge

The Immigration Health Surcharge that is added to every temporary visa is not payable on an application for indefinite leave to remain. Settlement is not time-limited, so there is no period of stay to charge for. Once ILR is granted you use the NHS on the same basis as any other settled resident. If a fee calculator or adviser adds an IHS line to an ILR quote, it is wrong.

Optional priority services

The standard service — a decision usually within six months — is included in the fee. Two paid upgrades exist, per person, and most settlement routes offer only one of them:

• Priority service — £500. GOV.UK’s faster decision page says settlement applications on priority usually take 30 working days, while its Skilled Worker settlement page says 5 (checked 9 October 2026). GOV.UK’s eligibility table offers it for settlement mainly on the work routes (form SET(O)), Innovator Founder and BN(O).
• Super priority service — £1,000. Aims for a decision by the end of the next working day after a weekday appointment, or two working days after a weekend or bank-holiday appointment. The eligibility table offers it for settlement mainly on the partner, parent, child, long residence, UK Ancestry, HM Forces and Innovator Founder routes.

Both are paid on top of the application fee, are not always available (GOV.UK says the number of places is limited), and are not usually refunded if the decision takes longer, for example because the Home Office needs more information. Whether they are worth paying for is the subject of is the ILR priority service worth it; the timelines are in how long ILR takes.

Other costs to budget for

• Biometric enrolment. GOV.UK states there is no Home Office fee for giving your fingerprints and photo. UKVCAS, the commercial partner that runs the appointments, offers free slots alongside paid appointments and optional extra services; free slots can be scarce, so booking early is the cheapest option.
• Life in the UK test — £50. Payable when you book, and again if you fail and re-sit. Most adults under 65 need a pass.
• English language test. Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker and Scale-up main applicants have no English requirement for ILR applications made before 26 March 2027, and Innovator Founder and T2 Minister of Religion main applicants have none at settlement at all. Most other adult applicants who cannot rely on another route, such as a qualifying degree or a majority-English-speaking nationality, need a Secure English Language Test at B1. For applications from 26 March 2027 the level rises to B2 on most routes, and it applies to Skilled Worker and Scale-up main applicants too. Prices are set by the providers and vary; see the English test for ILR.
• Documents. Translations of any non-English documents, replacement or updated employer letters, and — if you use one — a solicitor or adviser.
• Time off and travel for the biometric appointment and the Life in the UK test centre.

A realistic total

1. 1Single applicant, standard service, free biometrics slot, Life in the UK test passed first time, English met by degree: about £3,276.
2. 2Single applicant on a route that offers super priority, adding it: about £4,276, plus the cost of a paid appointment slot if you book one.
3. 3Couple with one child, standard service: about £9,700 in application fees plus two Life in the UK tests and any English tests.

Refunds and fee waivers

The fee is not refunded if the application is refused. Under the Home Office refunds policy, a withdrawal is refunded only in limited cases — mainly if you withdraw before giving your biometrics, in which case any priority or super priority fee is refunded too. Once you have attended your biometrics appointment, withdrawing (including the deemed withdrawal if you travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man while the application is pending) gets no refund. An application rejected as invalid is refunded minus a £30 administration charge.

Fee waivers, which can remove the fee on some human rights based leave-to-remain applications for people who cannot afford it, do not apply to settlement except in limited cases. Refugees, people with humanitarian protection and holders of section 67 leave pay no fee for their settlement application; almost everyone else, including people on the family routes, pays in full.

Given that a refusal costs the full fee, the cheapest part of the whole process is making sure you actually qualify before you pay: the qualifying period is complete, and no rolling 12-month window went over 180 days of absence. The free UK ILR absence calculator checks the latter; the ILR guide walks through everything else.

Quellen

• GOV.UK — Home Office immigration and nationality fees (visa regulations revised table)
• GOV.UK — Indefinite leave to remain (settlement)
• GOV.UK — Get a faster decision on your visa or settlement application
• GOV.UK — Immigration and nationality refunds policy: caseworker guidance
• GOV.UK — Settlement: refugee or humanitarian protection (fees)