How much is the Graduate visa fee in 2026?

The application fee is £880 plus the Immigration Health Surcharge of £1,035 per year of leave granted. For a 2-year grant, total cost is roughly £2,950 including IHS. PhD graduates getting 3 years pay an additional year of IHS.

Will the Graduate visa get cheaper from January 2027?

The application fee stays the same but the duration drops from 2 years to 18 months for Bachelor's/Master's graduates — meaning less IHS to pay. A January 2027 application costs ~£2,433 total instead of £2,950.

Can I extend the Graduate visa?

No — the Graduate visa cannot be extended. It's a single grant. To stay in the UK after it expires, switch to another route (typically Skilled Worker, Spouse, or another work route) before the end date.

UK Graduate Visa Cost in 2026: Full Breakdown

TL;DR

UK Graduate visa: £880 application fee plus £1,035/year IHS. Standard 2-year grant total ~£2,950. PhD 3-year ~£3,985. From January 2027 the Bachelor's/Master's duration drops to 18 months — total ~£2,433. The visa cannot be extended; budget for switching to Skilled Worker before expiry.

Application fee + IHS

Component	Cost
Application fee	£880
IHS for adults	£1,035 per year of leave
Biometrics	£100
Priority Service (optional)	£500
Super-Priority Service (optional)	£1,000

There's no IHS exemption for Graduate visa holders — the discounted Student rate (£776) does not extend.

Worked examples

Example 1 — Bachelor's graduate, applying before January 2027 (2-year grant)

Item	Cost
Application fee	£880
IHS (£1,035 × 2)	£2,070
Biometrics	£100
Total	~£3,050

Example 2 — Bachelor's graduate, applying from January 2027 (18-month grant)

Item	Cost
Application fee	£880
IHS (£1,035 × 1.5)	£1,553
Biometrics	£100
Total	~£2,533

Example 3 — PhD graduate (3-year grant)

Item	Cost
Application fee	£880
IHS (£1,035 × 3)	£3,105
Biometrics	£100
Total	~£4,085

What's NOT included

No language test — your English ability was already proven for the Student visa
No new TB test — UK Student visa applicants from listed countries already submitted one
No qualification verification — UKVI uses your sponsor's confirmation of course completion

This makes the Graduate visa one of the cheapest UK visa applications by total documentation cost.

Switching to Skilled Worker later

The Graduate visa is a single grant — you must switch to another route before it expires to stay in the UK. The most common path is Graduate → Skilled Worker:

Switch application from inside UK: £827-£1,636 depending on visa length
IHS for the new visa period: £1,035/year
New-entrant reduced salary threshold (£30,960) applies for 4 years

So a 3-year Skilled Worker switch from Graduate costs roughly £4,800 — same as an outside-UK initial Skilled Worker application.

Total Graduate journey cost

For someone planning Student → Graduate → Skilled Worker → ILR:

Stage	Cost
Student visa (3-year undergraduate)	~£2,950
Graduate visa (2 years)	~£3,050
Skilled Worker (3 years initial)	~£4,800
Skilled Worker extension (2 years)	~£3,500
ILR application	£3,029
Total over ~10 years	~£17,300

Plus tuition fees during the Student period (typically £15,000-£40,000+ per year) — by far the largest cost in the academic-to-settlement journey.

Who pays

Graduate visa fees are typically paid by the applicant — there's no employer to share the cost (you're not yet in a sponsored role). Some graduates negotiate the cost into their first Skilled Worker sponsor's package once they get a job offer.

How to budget

The £880 + IHS is a single payment at application — set it aside before your Student visa expires
IHS is paid in pounds at the time of the application; budget conservatively if currency rates are volatile
If you intend to switch to Skilled Worker during the Graduate period, plan for that fee in advance — many applicants are caught short when the switch becomes urgent

For preparing the (small) document bundle, run our Checklist generator — Graduate visa applications are typically 5-10 documents. Use the Bundler to merge them.