Tier 1 (General)
Cost
This page sets out the fees for applications under Tier 1 (General) of the points-based system, and explains how to pay your application fee.
The application fee that you must pay depends on how you want to apply. You can pay a lower fee if you are currently in the UK under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme.
More information
-
Tier 1 (General) application fees
Fee if you are applying by post in the UK Fee if you are applying in person inside the UK Fee if you are applying outside the UK Main applicant £1545 £1,920 Not applicable Main applicant (if they are a national of Croatia, Turkey or FYR of Macedonia) £1391 £1,766 Not applicable Partner or child aged under 18 (if they are applying at the same time as the main applicant) £1,159 for each family member included on the main applicant's application form £1,534 for each family member included on the main applicant's application form Not applicable Partner or child aged under 18 (if they are applying later), or child aged over 18 £1545 for each family member £1920 for each family member £840 for each family member
Fees for nationals of Croatia, Turkey and FYR of Macedonia
Nationals of these countries pay a reduced fee as shown above. These countries have ratified the 1961 Council of Europe Social Charter.
- Withdrawing your application When the payment handling service has received your application, the application fee is charged. The fee cannot then be refunded if you withdraw your application.
- Duplicate applications If you send more than one application, you will be charged the application fee for each application.
-
How to pay your application fee if you are inside the UK
If you are applying online, you must pay your fee online as part of your application.
If you are applying by post or courier, you can choose how to pay your application fee:
- By cheque in sterling on a UK bank account. The application form will tell you who to make the cheque payable to, you should write your full name and date of birth on the back, and attach the cheque to the front of the completed application form.
- With a UK postal order. You should write your full name and date of birth on the back, and attach the postal order to the front of the completed application form.
- With a credit or debit card - American Express, MasterCard, Visa (including Electron), Delta or Maestro (including Solo). For postal and courier payments, we accept only Maestro cards issued in the UK. You must include the card number, the amount paid, the payer's name as it appears on the card, the 'valid from' and expiry dates, the card verification value (CVV) code, the cardholder's signature and the date. The issue number is also needed for Maestro cards.
If you are applying and paying in person at a public enquiry office, you can choose how to pay your application fee. For applications made in person at a public enquiry office, the total fee includes an additional fee of £375 for each person. This includes a £100 appointment fee, which may be retained should the applicant fail to attend their appointment without good reason. Please check the relevant application form to find out if you can make an application in person.
- With a UK postal order (except at our Glasgow and Cardiff offices). You should write your full name and date of birth on the back.
- By banker's draft (except at our Glasgow and Cardiff offices).
- With a credit or debit card - American Express, MasterCard, Visa (including Electron), Delta or Maestro (including Solo). We can accept any Maestro card for payments at a public enquiry office. You must include the card number, the amount paid, the payer's name as it appears on the card, the 'valid from' and expiry dates, the card verification value (CVV) code, the cardholder's signature and the date. The issue number is also needed for Maestro cards. The cardholder must be present for the payment to be taken.
Payment by any other method is not accepted.
You must send the full amount to cover the total cost of your application. If you do not do this, your application will be invalid and will not be considered. We will return your application and part payment to you.
We start considering the application when the payment has cleared. Payments are cleared:
- after 5 working days for cheques
- after 1 working day for credit or debit cards
- immediately for postal orders
Please note that, if you are making numerous payments using your credit card, the anti-fraud measures that banks operate sometimes stop payment being taken. This may be because you have exceeded the maximum limit on a single transaction or the number of transactions allowed in a given period of time. You must ensure that you contact your bank in advance, so that the bank will allow the full payment to be taken without any problems when you submit your applications.
Payment information on the application form
It is very important that you complete the payment section of the application form correctly. If this section contains errors, we will not be able to process your payment. This will mean that your application is invalid.