How Much Is London Visa?

As the United Kingdom’s capital (UK), many foreign passport holders buy a visa to travel to London for different purposes. The type of London visa you need to obtain for your travel purpose will ultimately determine the cost of the application.

Generally speaking, the typical London visa should cost around £93 for a Visit visa that will last for nine months, regardless of the applicant’s nationality. A Settlement visa can cost as high as £3,250 per person.

Since the fee is determined by the type of visa you are applying for, we have prepared this article that will show you how much each time to London visa costs, cutting across visitors to work, student, settlement, and even London Visa for Naturalisation.

Types of London Visa for Foreign Passport Holders & Fees

The five different types of visas available for foreign passport holders planning to travel to London include the UK Study Visa, UK Visit Visa, UK Join Family Visa, UK Work Visa, UK Settlement Visa, and UK Study Visa.

As we walk through their specifications, we will match these different UK visa types with their current application fees for foreign nationals.

UK Visit Visa and Fees

The UK visit visa is for those applying for a permit for a holiday or to see family or friends, for a business trip or meeting, and to get married in that place.

The cost of a Standard Visitor visa for the UK, Isle of Man, Jersey, and Guernsey is $132, valid as a Short-term (up to 6 months, single or multiple entries). Long term category of this visa is valid for up to 2 years and costs $503, while that of 5 years is $912

A Transit visa also falls under the UK Visit visa and costs $49 for the Direct Airside Transit (DATV) travel category, while the visitor transit visa costs $89. If you are joining a ship or aircraft as a member of the crew of that ship or aircraft traveling to London, the visa fee is $89

You can expect the standard visitor visa applications to take six weeks to process in your home country, after which the decision on your visa will be sent following your appointment at the UK embassy in your country of residence.

UK Join Family Visa and Fees

The UK joins family visa is for those planning to travel to London to settle in as the spouse, partner, or family member of someone who has British citizenship or is based in London.

The fee levied by the UK immigration service for this visa is $718 for Parents of children at school, allowing them to stay up to 12 months. However, if you are Joining your partner, parent, proposed civil partner, or child, the visa fee is $2,121.

Meanwhile, Dependent children under 21 only apply under “Appendix ECAA Extension of Stay” to the immigration rules. So the visa fee for this category of Join Family visa is free of charge. Also, Family members of the European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss nationals are exempt from visa fees under this category.

The UK joins family visa takes around 12 weeks to be processed, counting from the day you have attended your appointment at the visa application center in your home country.

UK Work/Settlement Visa and Fee

Those applying to travel to London for a permit to work or invest in the UK would focus on the UK work/settlement visa.

This London visa type costs $2260 for Tier 1 investors – principal applicants and dependents. However, in other categories, the fee varies. For example, a family of settled people (settlement) would pay a visa fee of $1422 instead.

Work – applications made outside the UK (also applicable in the Isle of Man) will attract a visa fee of $323 to cover skilled Workers and Health and Care visas whose certificate of sponsorship has been issued for three years or less.

Meanwhile, a Temporary Work visa in London, such as the Religious Work of the principal applicant and any dependents, attracts a visa fee of $320 per person.

So you can see that the standard fee for Work Visa for London ranges from £625 to £1,423, depending on your circumstances. In addition to the visa fee, the applicant must also be able to pay the healthcare surcharge, usually around £624 per year.

Applicants whose job type is among those on the Shortage occupation list for foreign nationals who want to work in the UK will pay the lower application fee.

UK Settlement Visa and Fees

The fee for a UK settlement visa is $2121, particularly for the category of people joining their partner, parent, proposed civil partner, or child (also applicable to EC to the Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Jersey, and Bailiwick of Gurnsey.

On the other hand, those in the category of Adult dependant relative (also applicable for EC to the Isle of Man) will pay a visa fee of $4525.

Although Dependent children under 21 only apply under “Appendix ECAA Extension of Stay” to the immigration rules, their visa fee is free. Family reunions, under Part 11 of Asylum, Immigration Rules (pre-flight dependants), are also exempted from paying visa fees in this visa type. But, Family reunions of other dependent relatives pay a visa fee of $540 per person.

Remember that the London Visa fees are quoted by the UK immigration services using Pounds as the currency. We have converted to dollars for easy grasping since the greenback is a popular denomination.

We recommend using a real-time dollar rate calculator, which can be harvested online to know about the latest exchange rate of these figures to your local currency.

Can Visa Application to London be Denied?

Yes, the UK embassy in your local country can deny giving you a visa that permits your travel to London. The most common reasons why UK visas are refused center around missing documents.

This is because skipping one necessary document that should have been included in your application files is easy. And because of the need to attend to several applications, the embassy will only give a second chance to resolve what is missing.

This means you will have to start the process all over.

Sometimes, the incorrect and mismatched information in your documents can deny the Visa to London. In some cases, the denial stems from insufficient financial means of the applicant to support their stay in the UK.

Suppose all these do not come to light. In that case, other demeaning factors like not meeting the English language requirement and incorrect organization of documents can play a part in the denial of the visa application.

Can I get a refund of London Visa Fees After paying?

As with fees for other destinations, the cost you have paid for the London Visa application can not be refunded. The purpose of the levy is to foot the expenses that come from processing your application.

So whether your visa is denied, accepted, or you decide to withdraw your application, the fees will not be refunded.

It is possible to get the funds back if you reapply for a UK visa after the initial application was denied.

Is London Visa Fee Paid in Pounds?

You should still know that the Immigration authorities of the United Kingdom charge applicants for visas a fee in Pounds Sterling (GBP). The visa levy aims to foot administration costs involved in handling visa applications.

However, the visa fee can be paid in local currency for the equivalent based on the real-time exchange rate set by the Home Office.

Closing

A UK visa allows you to stay in London for the allotted period attached to that visa type.

The fees you will have to pay for this visa depend on whether you are going to London to work and do business, to study, for short stays and tourism, to join family members who are already in the UK, to transit through the UK to another country, or to live permanently.

Some visa type is for those who want to travel to London as a refugee or as someone who needs humanitarian protection, as a stateless person, or as someone who needs permission to stay.

A UK visa is the authorizing document that gives worldwide citizens the right to enter, stay temporarily, or live forever in the territory of the UK, wherein you can find London, its capital.

After successful submission and payment, the visa is usually a document or stamp on your passport given by a UK consulate or embassy in your home country.

If you want clarity regarding the Visa application process for traveling to London, feel free to share in the comments.