ILR cost is calculated based on which day? The application fee should be verified against the latest standard of IHS.

"how much does it cost to apply for ILR now?" "the standard fee is £3,226 per person, and the permanent residency application itself does not charge IHS."

This is the current standard as of September 24, 2026. Those still needing to apply for a temporary visa, the general annual fee for the immigration health surcharge IHS is £1,035, and the reduced annual fee is £776, with applicable categories specified otherwise. The adjustment in the permanent residency application fee in April 2026 cannot be directly applied to IHS, and the two fees need to be checked separately.

Another date that determines the budget: when the complete application is submitted.

Home Office"Guidance on the Validity, Amendment, Cancellation and Withdrawal of Applications" section "Fee Payment and IHS", four layers of requirements are written consecutively: the required fees must be fully paid; the fee is charged on the day the application is submitted; changes to the application are subject to the change date; price adjustments during the review period do not make the original application invalid. These sentences need to be split apart to clearly see what each affects: payment, submission, and fingerprinting.

ILR application fee £3,226, IHS has separate rules

"Full payment is required" corresponds to the various statutory fees required for this application. The current fee schedule Home Office indicates that, starting from April 8, 2026, the standard ILR application fee will increase from £3,029 to £3,226, an increase of £197 per person. This amount is the application fee; choosing to use expedited services, registering for exams, or purchasing other services may result in additional costs. When making a budget, it is recommended to list the statutory application fees and the services you choose separately, so that when multiple amounts appear on the payment page, it is easier to see what each fee corresponds to. This article discusses standard fee applications; those who are eligible for exemptions or have special routes should check according to their own route.

IHS General annual fee has been adjusted to £1,035 as of February 2024. No official basis was found for the adjustment of these two annual fees in conjunction with the charge effective in April 2026 ILR.

The £776 discount tier covers students, family members of students, applicants under the Youth Mobility Scheme, and individuals under 18 years old at the time of application. The annual fee is the pricing unit, and the total amount due also depends on the duration of the visa, with any period less than a full year typically calculated in half-year units. The official example given is: applying for a general rate, with a visa duration of 16 months, IHS will be charged for 18 months, totaling £1,552.50. Additional periods before or after work or study may also be included, so the budget should be calculated based on the visa duration. The annual fee does not change, but the total bill may still vary depending on the approved stay duration.

Finished the draft, but the billing date is not yet confirmed.

The current "Immigration Rules" Part 1 paragraph 34G(3) provides that for standard online applications not requesting a fee waiver, the date of formal online submission is the application date; changes to applications are subject to separate provisions.

Saving the table draft and partially filling it cannot replace the formal submission record. When verifying the fees, you can put the application submission confirmation page, payment receipt, and collection appointment letter together: the submission confirmation is used to identify the application date; the receipt is used for accounting; the appointment letter is used to arrange the on-site visit. For applications that have been correctly submitted and fully paid, the fingerprint collection appointment will be adjusted after the fee adjustment, and the fee date will not be pushed back separately. Only those who have created drafts but have not yet submitted formally need to recalculate according to the standards applicable at the time of actual submission, and cannot rely on the amount seen when starting to fill in the form.

IHS Another date distinction: The guidance on case review clearly determines the applicable rate based on the submission date of a complete visa application. Paying in advance IHS itself cannot fix the rate.

In practice, payment for IHS may occur before the completion of the entire visa application. If there is an official price adjustment exactly between the two steps, the old payment receipt can only prove how much was paid, not that the entire application was submitted at the old rate. In such cases, verifying the submission status of the complete application is more useful than just checking whether the bank card was charged. This refers to the fee rules; whether you can apply for permanent residency on that day still needs to be independently verified for eligibility.

Change the application in the middle, need to re-check the price

"Another change application is considered for the change date," applies to variation: the original application has not yet been decided, and the applicant changes to another application. For example, if the renewal is still being processed, it will be changed to ILR after meeting the conditions.

Here is a set of provisions that need to be viewed side by side. The current "Immigration Rules" Part 1 paragraph 34GB states that the application date for a qualifying variation request is considered the date of the original application; the fee guidance clearly states that the fees paid are calculated according to the fee rate on the day of the variation request. These two provisions serve different purposes, and the retention of the date does not mean that the original price is also retained. Taking the implemented April 2026 fee adjustment as an example: someone submitted a renewal application before the fee adjustment, and then changed to a standard fee permanent residency application after the adjustment. The permanent residency fee is still calculated based on £3,226 applicable on the day of the variation, and cannot revert to £3,029 based on the original renewal submission date.

The old application is pending, which is a key prerequisite for the change procedure. If a decision has already been made, the subsequent application should be processed as a new application and cannot continue to use the above arrangement.

The UK government's "Vary your immigration application" requires that existing pending applications be mentioned in the new form, and the reference number of the application should be provided. The fee for the new application should be paid according to the process, and the refund for the old application will be handled separately. When preparing documents, retain the numbers of both applications, submission confirmation, and all receipts, which will help distinguish between payments related to the original application or the variation application, and also make it clearer to the UKVI which payment needs to be verified.

Price adjustment during the trial does not mean that the difference needs to be compensated.

The guidance further states that price adjustments during the review period will not invalidate the original application. The correct and full fee has already been paid as of the application date, and there is no need to make up the difference merely because a new price later emerges.

When receiving the IHS supplementary payment notice, it is still necessary to verify the notice itself. The amount due may relate to the license period, applicable rate, or previous underpayment, and it cannot be assumed that the notice is not applicable just because "I have already submitted". The UK government's payment instructions state that for domestic applications, the outstanding amount must be paid within 10 working days of receiving the notice, and for overseas applications, within 7 working days. If not paid on time and in full, the application will be rejected. You can first check the application number, the annual fees used in the calculation, and the license duration, and then proceed according to the notice.

If you have questions about the reason for the payment, you should verify with UKVI; during the verification period, pay attention to the deadlines required by the notice, and do not assume that the time has been suspended on your own.

Putting these four sentences together, my judgment is: it's not worth doing just to fix the old fee. First renew the visa and then change to permanent residency. It is not worth doing. Changing has its own fee date, so this arrangement cannot guarantee saving on the permanent residency increase, and it also requires handling two payment records. Those who really need to renew to maintain their status and then qualify for permanent residency can consider changing after verifying the path; those who already qualify for permanent residency should prepare according to the effective date of this application and the current fee. The cost comparison should be based on the actual applications that will be needed. If the official only updates the page, does not announce the new rate applicable to you and the implementation arrangements, there is no need to change the application plan just because of the update date.

This document is for reference only. For specific issues, please consult a licensed attorney.

[Data Source] Home Office "2026年4月8日起 Immigration and Nationality Fee Schedule"; "Guidance on Application Validity, Changes, Cancellation and Withdrawal" - Fees Section; "Immigration Health Surcharge Case Guidance" - Rates and Calculation Section.

Double-check the day's charges and application status before submitting, as the applicable amount may vary if it crosses the effective date of the price adjustment.

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