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

"Apply for ILR now, how much money is required?" "The regular fee route 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 who still need to apply for a limited visa, the general annual fee for the immigration health surcharge IHS is £1,035, and the discounted 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 verified separately.

Another date that determines the budget is 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 due fees must be fully paid; the fee applies on the day of the application; 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 of £3,226, IHS with separate rules

"Full payment is required" corresponds to the various statutory fees required for this application. Home Office The current fee schedule shows 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; selecting optional expedited services, registering for exams, or purchasing other services may result in additional costs. When preparing 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 the standard fee application; those who are eligible for exemptions or 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 along with the charges effective in April 2026 ILR.

£776 discount applies to 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 billing unit, and the total amount due also depends on the duration of the visa, with periods less than a year usually calculated in half-year units. The official example given is: applicable general rate, visa period of 16 months, IHS charged for 18 months, totaling £1,552.50. Additional visa 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 remains unchanged, 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 a standard online application not involving a fee waiver request, the date of formal online submission is the application date; applications for variation are subject to different 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, the payment receipt, and the 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 after the fee adjustment, and the fee date will not be pushed back separately. Only those who have drafted but not formally submitted will need to recalculate according to the standard applicable at the time of actual submission, and cannot rely on the amount seen when starting to fill in the form.

IHS There is another date distinction: the guidance for case review clearly states that the applicable rate is determined by 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 according to the old rate. In such arrangements, 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 requires an independent verification of eligibility.

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

"Change application is considered separately from the change date" applies to variation: the original application has not yet been decided, and the applicant changes to another application. For example, renewal is still being reviewed, and after meeting the conditions, it is changed to ILR.

Here is a set of provisions that need to be viewed side by side. The current "Immigration Rules" Part 1 paragraph 34GB stipulates that the application date for a variation request that meets the requirements is regarded as the original application date; the fee guidance clearly states that the fees paid are calculated according to the fee rate on the day of the variation application. These two provisions serve different purposes, and retaining the date does not mean that the original price is also retained. Taking the price adjustment implemented in April 2026 as an example: someone submitted a renewal application before the price 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 change, and cannot use the original renewal submission date to revert to £3,029.

The old application is pending, which is a key prerequisite for the change procedure. If a decision has already been made, then the new application will be processed as a new application and cannot use the aforementioned arrangement.

The UK government's "Vary your immigration application" requires that existing pending applications be mentioned in the new form, and provide the reference number of that application. The fee required 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 both application numbers, submission confirmation, and all receipts, to help distinguish which payment corresponds to the original application or the variation application, and to clearly inform the UKVI which payment needs to be verified.

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

The guidance further states that price adjustments during the review period will not render the original application invalid. The application was correctly and fully paid according to the application date, and there is no need to make up the difference merely because a new price later appears.

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 cannot be judged as inapplicable just because "I have already submitted." The UK government's payment instructions list the following periods: for domestic applications, the payment must be made within 10 working days after receiving the notice, and for overseas applications, within 7 working days. If the payment is not made 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 there are questions about the reason for the payment, it should be verified 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. There is a separate charge date for changes, and this arrangement cannot guarantee saving on the permanent residency increase. It also requires handling two payment records. Those who indeed need to renew their visa to maintain their status and then qualify for permanent residency may consider changing after verifying the process; those who already qualify for permanent residency should proceed according to the validity period of this application and current fees. The cost comparison should be based on the actual applications needed. If the official only updates the page without announcing new rates and effective arrangements applicable to you, there is no need to change your 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 "Immigration and Nationality Fee Schedule effective April 8, 2026"; "Guidance on Application Validity, Changes, Cancellation and Withdrawal" - Fees section; "Immigration Health Surcharge Case Guidance" - Rates and Calculation section.

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

Dealing with a UK legal matter? JustiScript can help