Is the permanent residency application fee £3,226? Item-by-item verification of the 2026 latest fees

Yes, according to the fee table verified as of September 20, 2026, the standard application fee for settled status is £3,226 per person, and no health surcharge is payable for applying for settled status itself.

This money corresponds to the application of the main applicant or family members individually. When calculating the total for the whole family, it should be multiplied by the number of people. Rush service, examination and appointment services are charged separately. I think when preparing the funds for permanent residency, you should prepare the full amount due, and shouldn't deduct the expected refund from the old visa IHS in advance. Below is a breakdown of the official fee schedule, itemizing the charging object, unit price and additional costs.

How should the line "ILR Fee Table" be read?

Home Office"Fee Schedule for Immigration and Nationality as of April 8, 2026", Section 9 lists this fee item:

Indefinite leave to remain - main applicant and dependants: £3,226

"Indefinite leave to remain" limits the types of applications. In Chinese, it is called "indefinite stay," usually referred to as "permanent residency." When valuing, you should first confirm that the application you are preparing to submit is indeed a permanent residency application; those who still need to extend their current visa should calculate separately according to the corresponding renewal program. This table lists applications from abroad, domestic renewals, permanent residency, and nationality matters. Some item names also contain the word "settlement," but correspond to different procedures. When actually operating, you should compare your application page with the fee table side by side, check the application location and full name of the program, and then take the amount. Just copying the price based on the search result containing "Settlement" may easily lead to entering the cost of another type of application into the budget.

"main applicant and dependants" covers the main applicant and dependent family members. The official application page for work permit and permanent residency clearly states: eligible partners and children can be listed on the same form, but each applicant must pay £3,226.

Take a pure fee example: two adults and one child all meet the criteria and apply for this chargeable settlement visa, the base government fee is £3,226 × 3 = £9,678. There is no automatic child discount for the child in this program, and the child cannot be exempted from paying their own fee just because the parents have paid. When making a family budget, list each person's application for settlement first, then check their eligibility separately. Family members who need to renew their visas temporarily should be placed in the renewal budget, applying their own fees and healthcare surcharge rules. After separating them, it will be clear which money must be paid this time, and which belongs to another procedure. This example does not include applications that are eligible for other free arrangements or approved fee reductions.

£3,226 will take effect from April 8, 2026, previously the same project was £3,029, an increase of £197 per person. This change has already taken effect and the old amount cannot be added to the pending payment list anymore.

There is a detail in the fee table that is easy to misread: as of the date this text was verified, the English header for the column containing the old amount still says "Current fee," while £3,226 is in the "Fee from 8 April 2026" column. Looking at the table alone, the former seems to indicate "pay this amount now"; only by combining the document title and effective date can it be seen that it represents the price before the adjustment in this price adjustment comparison table. When verifying the price, please keep the header, effective date, and item name together. If the current description still states £3,029, first confirm which date's rate it refers to, then go back to the corresponding application page to cross-check, and don't use a single English word on the page to replace a complete date-based judgment.

Which entries need to be added to the general ledger?

The basic official fees and optional expedited service are listed together, with the individual subtotal as follows. The table only calculates these two items, which is suitable for those preparing to pay to verify; whether each route provides the corresponding service is based on the optional items available at the time of application.

The Priority service is for priority processing, and Super Priority is for super priority processing. Both charge additional fees on top of the base government fee. The expedited service page for family applications has a clear requirement: each family member applying together must pay the corresponding expedited fee, and the entire family will receive the decision at the same time. Therefore, if the three-person family meets the selected service conditions and applies for expedited processing together, an additional £1,500 is required for the Priority level, and an additional £3,000 for the Super Priority level, totaling £11,178 and £12,678 respectively. Do not just add the individual expedited fee once. Expedited service is not available with the same options on every route. It is recommended to leave some budget margin, and actual payment will be verified per person according to the selected services this time.

Life in the UK Test An additional £50 per person, not included in the £3,226. The official registration page states that those who have already passed or met the exemption criteria do not need to take the exam again; those who need to take it should include this amount in their pre-exam budget.

Biological information collection should be read by project: the official application page for work permit and permanent residency clearly states that collecting fingerprints and photos does not charge separately; the UKVCAS service description page also states that the actual service point fee depends on the type of location and additional services, and may charge extra during non-office hours, weekends or emergency appointments. Seeing the amount on the appointment page, check the specific service purchased, and list this one separately. Documents can be uploaded by yourself, or choose on-site scanning, whether to pay for assistance depends on the service details. Examinations or academic evaluations required for English certification, document translation, and voluntary legal services should also get individual quotes, do not set a unified total price without verification.

IHS, you can fill in £0 for the permanent residency application. However, the official instructions retain a boundary: if applying for permanent residency but obtaining a limited-time residence instead, and there are no other IHS exemptions, you must pay the required fee before obtaining this permit.

Another specific statement needs to be corrected: "Once permanent residency is obtained, the remaining time of the original visa will be refunded as per the remaining period." On Home Office's IHS refund page, applying for permanent residency is explicitly listed as a non-refundable situation. It cannot be solely based on the transition to permanent residency that the medical surcharge for the remaining period of the original visa is refunded. If there are other independent reasons for refunds, such as duplicate payments, they should be judged according to those rules; it is a different reason from requesting a refund due to obtaining permanent residency. The actual impact on the budget is direct: the money already paid will not automatically become available balance because of this exemption, and the application account still needs to prepare the full amount due for this time.

My judgment is that a budget that can be paid should list the full amount per person, and separate the official fees and service fees; any unconfirmed refunds should not be used to fill the funding gap for this application.

Before making the payment, the refund conditions should also be included in the risk budget. Home Office "Immigration and Nationality Refund Policy" states that if the application is rejected due to not meeting the route requirements, the application fee will not be refunded. The fees have been paid correctly, but the residence period, absence records, and route documents still need to meet the requirements individually. Please remove the completed exams from the pending payment total, and after obtaining a clear quotation for the unselected appointment services, add them back. If you are entrusting someone else to assist with the submission, please request a detailed breakdown by applicant and fee items, and keep the official payment receipts and service invoices separately; when there is a difference between the total payment and the budget, you can directly locate the specific item.

[Data Source] Home Office Immigration and Nationality Fee Schedule, Expedited Service Information, and IHS Payment and Refund Instructions. This document is for reference only; please consult a licensed attorney for specific issues.

1. List the applicants by name, verify the official fee of £3,226 per person and their eligibility for exemption.
2. Open the optional services for this application, check the expedited levels per person, and list expenses such as exams, appointments, and translations separately; separate the paid items from the total amount due, and save the corresponding receipts.
3. Double-check the official rates before submission, ensure full funds are available, and exclude unconfirmed IHS refunds.

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