ILR Fees in 2026: The Home Office Fee, Tests and Our Fee

The Home Office fee for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) is £3,226 for each person applying, and that includes each child on the application. Most adults also need the Life in the UK test (£50) and, on some routes, proof of English. If you want a faster decision, super priority costs an extra £1,000 for each person.

Those are government fees. If you use a solicitor, the legal fee is separate. Ours is typically £1,500 to £2,200 for an ILR application, plus VAT at 20% where it applies.

All Home Office figures here were checked on GOV.UK on 20 October 2026, against the fee table in force from 8 October 2026.

ILR costs at a glance

• Home Office application fee: £3,226 for each person
• Biometric appointment (fingerprints and photo): no fee for a standard appointment
• Priority service (optional, if your route offers it): £500 for each person, with a decision usually within 30 working days for settlement
• Super priority service (optional): £1,000 for each person
• Life in the UK test: £50, for most applicants aged 18 to 64
• English test: priced by the approved test provider, on routes where you need one
• Immigration Health Surcharge: not payable on an ILR application, unless you are given limited leave instead
• Our legal fee (Indefinite Leave to Remain): typically £1,500 to £2,200, our legal fee only, plus VAT at 20% where it applies. Optional, and paid to us, not to the Home Office

The Home Office ILR fee

The fee is £3,226 for each person included in the application. A partner or child applying with you pays the same amount. You pay it online when you submit the application.

The fee table in force from 8 October 2026 left it unchanged at £3,226. The Home Office reviews its fees regularly, so check the current Home Office immigration and nationality fees on the day you apply.

Once you have applied, do not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you get a decision. If you do, GOV.UK says your application will be withdrawn and the fee will not be refunded.

A faster decision: priority and super priority

The priority service costs an extra £500 for each person, if your route offers it. For settlement, GOV.UK says a decision usually takes 30 working days from your appointment.

Super priority costs an extra £1,000 for each person. GOV.UK says the Home Office aims to decide by the end of the next working day after your biometric appointment, if that appointment is on a weekday. Without it, the Home Office usually decides an ILR application within 6 months of your biometric appointment.

Both services are optional. Each buys a faster decision. It does not make a refusal less likely.

The Life in the UK test and the English test

The Life in the UK test costs £50. Most applicants aged 18 to 64 must pass it. You book it on GOV.UK at least 3 days ahead. A pass you already hold may still count.

The English requirement applies on some routes, such as family and long residence. It is usually speaking and listening at level B1. You can meet it with an approved English test, a degree taught in English, or by being a national of a majority English-speaking country. The test provider sets the price of its test. You do not need to meet it if you are under 18 or 65 or over. If you are on the Skilled Worker route, GOV.UK says you met the English requirement when you got your visa.

Worked examples

These examples add up the government fees only. Our legal fee, if you use us, is shown separately below.

One person applying, who needs the Life in the UK test:

• Home Office fee: £3,226 per person
• Life in the UK test: £50 per person
• Home Office and test fees: £3,276, plus an English test if you need one

A couple applying together, both needing the test:

• Home Office fees: 2 × £3,226 per person = £6,452
• Life in the UK tests: 2 × £50 per person = £100
• Home Office and test fees: £6,552, plus English tests if you need them

A couple and one child under 18:

• Home Office fees: 3 × £3,226 per person = £9,678
• Life in the UK tests for the two adults: 2 × £50 per person = £100 (children under 18 do not take it)
• Home Office and test fees: £9,778, plus English tests if you need them

Super priority is £1,000 for each person: £2,000 for a couple, and £3,000 for a couple and one child. GOV.UK says every family member applying with you must pay for a faster decision. The priority service is £500 for each person on the same basis.

Our legal fee for an ILR application

Our fee for an Indefinite Leave to Remain application is typically £1,500 to £2,200, our legal fee only. Where VAT applies it is charged at 20%. Whether it applies depends on your residence and immigration status, and we confirm it in your quotation.

The fee covers:

• an initial meeting, advice on your route and a document checklist
• reviewing your documents and evidence
• preparing the application and the written arguments that support it
• submitting the application
• advising on the decision

Not included: the Home Office fee, biometric charges, any priority service, the Life in the UK test and English test fees, translation, interpreter, expert or barrister fees, appeals or reviews unless specifically included, and extra work caused by incomplete information, further-evidence requests or interviews.

The figure for your case depends on how complex it is, how much evidence there is, any earlier refusals and how urgent it is. You get a written quote before you instruct us. All our published immigration fee ranges are on our fees page.

We also offer ILR consultations, where we check your qualifying date, your time abroad, your tests and the evidence your route needs before you apply. We confirm any cost in writing before a consultation goes ahead.

Refunds and fee waivers

If you cancel your application, what you get back depends on how far it has gone. GOV.UK says the fee is refunded if you cancel before you have given your fingerprints and photo, and is not usually refunded after that. Its page on getting a refund has the details.

The Home Office fee waiver is for people applying for permission to stay in the UK who cannot afford the fee, for example to extend a family visa. It is not a way to cover the ILR fee unless GOV.UK's eligibility list says you qualify, so check it before you count on one.

After ILR: British citizenship

Most people can apply for British citizenship once they have held ILR for 12 months and lived in the UK for 5 years. If you are married to a British citizen, you do not have to wait 12 months after getting ILR, but you must have lived in the UK for 3 years. The citizenship application costs £1,709, plus £130 for the citizenship ceremony, so £1,839 in total (GOV.UK). Our British citizenship page explains the process.

Do I need a solicitor for an ILR application?

No. Many people apply themselves, and the Home Office fee is the same either way. Legal help is most useful when your case is not straightforward: long or frequent trips abroad, gaps between visas, a change of route, an earlier refusal, or evidence that does not fit the rules neatly. A refused application costs you the fee and time, so some people pay for a check before they apply.

Our page on indefinite leave to remain applications explains what we do on an ILR application, and our immigration services page lists the other routes we handle. To check your own qualifying date and days abroad first, use our free ILR calculator.

Questions people ask

How much is the ILR fee in 2026?

£3,226 for each person applying, at the rates in force from 8 October 2026. The Life in the UK test is £50 on top, and super priority is an optional £1,000 for each person.

Is ILR now 10 years or 5 years?

As of October 2026 the qualifying periods have not changed: 5 years on most work and family routes, and 10 years on the long residence route. The government has proposed making 10 years the standard period, with shorter periods for some people. Our ILR page lists the current period for each route.

Do children pay the full ILR fee?

Yes. Each child included in the application pays £3,226, the same as an adult. Children under 18 do not take the Life in the UK test or meet the English requirement.

Do I pay the Immigration Health Surcharge for ILR?

No, not on an ILR application. GOV.UK says you pay it if you apply for ILR but are given limited leave instead.

Is the ILR fee refunded if the application is refused?

No. GOV.UK says you are only eligible for a refund of the application fee if the Home Office has not started to process your application, for example if you cancel before your biometric appointment.

Is a solicitor's fee added to the Home Office fee?

No. They are paid separately. The Home Office fee is paid to the government when you apply. Our legal fee is paid to us, under a written quote you agree before we start.

Sources

Home Office fee table, in force from 8 October 2026: gov.uk/government/publications/visa-regulations-revised-table

ILR fee, biometrics, decision time, super priority and travel while you wait: gov.uk/long-residence and gov.uk/indefinite-leave-to-remain-family. Priority and super priority, and who pays: gov.uk/faster-decision-visa-settlement. Skilled Worker route (English already met): gov.uk/indefinite-leave-to-remain-tier-2-t2-skilled-worker-visa. Refunds once processing has started: gov.uk/guidance/visa-processing-times-applications-inside-the-uk

Life in the UK test: gov.uk/life-in-the-uk-test

Immigration Health Surcharge: gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/who-needs-pay

Cancelling an application and refunds: gov.uk/cancel-visa/get-refund

Fee waivers: gov.uk/visa-fee-waiver-in-uk

British citizenship fee: gov.uk/apply-citizenship-indefinite-leave-to-remain

Our fees: our published fee ranges, checked 20 October 2026: our fees page

This is general information about the cost of an ILR application as of 20 October 2026, not advice on your application. Home Office fees and rules change; check the figures that apply on the day you apply. Nobody can guarantee the Home Office's decision.