TL;DR
A Netherlands visa costs about £111 per adult from the UK if you apply yourself: the €90 consulate fee, about £81, VFS Global's £18.00 service fee, and travel insurance from about £12. Children aged 6 to 11 pay €45, under-6s nothing. Having it prepared for you is a £99 service fee on top, with the official fees still paid at the centre.
What it costs
| Cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Consulate fee (adult) | €90 (about £81) |
| VFS Global service fee | £18.00 (verified) |
| Travel insurance (minimum €30,000 cover) | from about £12 |
| DIY total per adult | about £111 |
| Our done-for-you service | £99 service fee, first applicant; £69 each extra applicant; official fees still paid by you |
The Netherlands is one of the cheaper major Schengen destinations to apply to from the UK. Its applications run through VFS Global from two centres, London and Edinburgh, and the Dutch contract carries an £18.00 service fee, below what the same operator charges for several neighbouring countries. All figures were verified against official sources on 24 June 2026.
The €90 consulate fee is the same for the Netherlands as for every other Schengen state: fixed by EU rules, impossible for any agency to discount, and non-refundable if the application fails. The children's rates matter for families: €45 for ages 6 to 11 and nothing at all under 6. Insurance is the third mandatory piece, and it is a specification rather than a price: at least €30,000 of medical and repatriation cover for the whole Schengen area and the whole trip, which compliant policies deliver from about £12.
What can add to the cost
VFS sells extras on top: courier return of your passport in place of a collection visit, prime-time appointments outside standard hours, and an on-site photo service for anyone whose photos fail the biometric check. They are conveniences, not requirements, and none of them speeds up the decision. Arrive with compliant photos and a printed, ordered set of documents and there is nothing extra to buy. Our free checklist generator produces that document list for your exact trip.
There is one charge no amount of preparation refunds if things go wrong: a refusal. The consulate fee and the centre fee, about £99 together, stay spent whatever the decision, and rebooked travel plans add their own losses on top. The Dutch consulate refused 1.0% of the 25,711 UK applications it decided in 2025, the lowest rate of the big destinations, which is reassuring but not a prediction for one file.
Is a service worth it?
In plain terms: a service does not lower the €90 or the £18, cannot shorten the consulate's 15-day clock, and cannot create a VFS slot. You can do the whole thing yourself with the Netherlands guide and the free tools on this site.
What £99 buys is the form completed, the pack built to the Dutch checklist, the London and Edinburgh calendars watched by hand every working day, and the appointment booked in your own name, with the file ready within 24 hours of your complete documents or the fee back. The Netherlands-specific case for it is geography: with no Manchester centre, most applicants outside London and Scotland face a day's travel, and a file that fails the counter check means doing it twice. If your file is straightforward and you have the time, apply yourself. If you would rather not, our Netherlands visa service explains exactly what is done and what is not.
Cheaper and pricier alternatives
Only Spain meaningfully undercuts the Netherlands among the big destinations, and only just: about £108 per adult on the back of BLS International's £14.85 fee, a saving of roughly £3. Going the other way, the gaps widen: Greece comes to about £119, Malta about £121, Italy around £125, and Germany around £128. Since Schengen rules require you to apply to your main destination, the country where you spend the most nights, the Dutch figure applies only when the Netherlands genuinely anchors your trip; one night in Amsterdam before two weeks in Spain is a Spain application.
Where to go from here
How to apply, from the form to the VFS appointment, is covered in the Netherlands visa from the UK guide, and the slot pattern at the two centres in Netherlands visa appointment in the UK. The full 28-country ranking in the UK Schengen cost index shows how £111 compares across the whole zone, and the cost calculator prices your full party, children included. Want it handled end to end? Our Netherlands visa service is a £99 service fee; you pay the official fees at the centre.
Sources
Common questions
- 01
How much does a Netherlands visa cost from the UK?
About £111 per adult if you apply yourself: the fixed €90 consulate fee (about £81), VFS Global's £18.00 service fee, and travel insurance from about £12. Children aged 6 to 11 pay a reduced €45 consulate fee, and children under 6 pay no consulate fee. If we prepare the application, our fee is £99 on top and the official fees are still paid by you at the centre.
- 02
What is the VFS Global fee for a Netherlands visa in the UK?
£18.00, verified against the official VFS Netherlands UK page on 24 June 2026. It is one of the lower VFS charges for any Schengen country from the UK, and the main reason the Netherlands is among the cheaper major destinations to apply to. It is paid at the centre, in London or Edinburgh, the only two UK centres.
- 03
Is any part of the Netherlands visa cost refundable if I am refused?
No. The €90 consulate fee is fixed EU-wide, cannot be discounted by any service, and is not refunded on refusal; the centre fee is likewise spent. A complete, well-documented application is the only real protection for the money you commit. The Dutch consulate refused 1.0% of UK applications in 2025, the lowest rate of the big destinations.
- 04
Which Schengen countries are cheaper than the Netherlands from the UK?
Few of the major ones. Spain, at about £108 per adult via BLS International's £14.85 fee, edges it slightly. Most others cost more: Greece about £119, Italy around £125 and Germany around £128, driven by higher visa-centre fees. You cannot choose a country for its price, though: you apply to your main destination.
- 05
Is a visa service worth it for the Netherlands?
It does not lower any official fee or speed up the consulate. It is worth £99 if your time is worth more than the form, the pack and the calendar watching, or if a day's travel to London or Edinburgh with a file that fails the counter check would cost you more than the fee. With a 1.0% refusal rate, a complete file is usually decided without difficulty, so the value is in getting it complete first time.
Free tools that pair with this guide