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 19 September 2026), the figure that took effect on 8 April 2026. 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 where UKVI offers them for your route:

• Priority service — £500. Aims for a decision within five working days of your biometric appointment.
• Super priority service — £1,000. Aims for a decision by the end of the next working day after your appointment.

Both are paid on top of the application fee, are not always available (UKVI suspends them when demand is high or for particular routes), and are not refunded if your case turns out to be complex and is taken out of the fast queue. 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, and free appointments exist at core UKVCAS centres. In practice the free slots go quickly, and UKVCAS charges for appointments at premium locations, at popular times, or with added services such as document scanning. 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. If you cannot rely on a degree taught in English or a majority English-speaking nationality, you need a Secure English Language Test at B1 or above from an approved provider. Prices are set by the providers and vary.
• 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 adding super priority and a paid appointment slot: roughly £4,300 to £4,500 depending on the slot.
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. It is also lost if you withdraw, or if the application is treated as withdrawn because you travelled outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man while it was pending. The only routine refund is where an application is rejected as invalid before consideration — for instance an unpaid or incomplete form — and even then a small processing charge is kept.

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.

Sources

• 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