UK Skilled Worker visa total cost: the health surcharge is the biggest charge you pay

For an adult staying a year or more, the biggest government charge you pay yourself is the health surcharge, not the visa fee, unless your job qualifies for the Health and Care Worker visa, which is exempt. It is charged for every family member and every year of the visa. The figure above is one adult's surcharge for one year; the whole visa's surcharge is paid when you apply.

Counting only the visa fee understates the bill. The surcharge is per person, per year and paid up front, so every extra year of the visa and every extra family member adds another charge before anyone has started work. It is refunded in full if the visa is refused.

Whether the job qualifies at all is a separate matter, covered on the Skilled Worker salary threshold page, and this page stays with what the household pays.

The figure above is the immigration health surcharge, the charge for using the NHS while you live in the UK, at the Home Office's rate for an adult.

How the surcharge is counted

• It is charged for each year of the visa. After the first year, a further part-year of up to six months costs half the yearly charge.
• Each partner and child applying with you pays their own. Children under 18 pay a lower rate.
• Health and Care Worker visa holders do not pay it at all, and their visa fee is lower too.

The other government charges

• The visa fee, per person. It depends on whether the visa is for up to three years or longer, and whether you apply from inside or outside the UK. Jobs on the Immigration Salary List pay a lower fee.
• An optional priority or super priority service, per person, if you want a faster decision.
• Savings to show when you apply, held for 28 days in a row, for you and for each partner or child applying with you. Not needed if your employer confirms on your certificate of sponsorship that it will cover your costs, and your family's, for the first month, or if you have all been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months. This is money you hold, not a fee.

What to ask before you sign

The law puts some of these costs on the employer, and the rest can end up with you.

Costs that are the employer's:

• The Immigration Skills Charge and the fee for assigning your certificate of sponsorship. The Home Office says a sponsor must not recover either from you, and can lose its licence for trying.

Costs that can fall to you:

• The visa fee and the health surcharge, for you and each family member, unless your employer chooses to pay them.
• An adviser's or lawyer's fee, if you hire one, on its own line.

For the employer's HR team or your adviser:

1. How many years is the visa for, and how many people are applying? Multiply the surcharge by both: children under 18 pay a lower rate, and a final part-year of six months or less is charged at half.
2. Is the job on the Immigration Salary List, or could it be a Health and Care Worker role? Both lower the cost.
3. Will your employer pay the visa fee or the surcharge for you, and is that in writing?
4. Has anyone asked you to repay the Immigration Skills Charge or the certificate fee? A sponsor must not.
5. Do you need a faster decision, and is the priority fee worth it for everyone applying?

If an adviser or relocation firm has sent you a quote covering the family's applications, answer yes to the first question in the box below and it will be read line by line against the official rules and what firms on file charge; if you have a quoted total but no document, answer no and enter the total. The check compares a document or a figure with the published rules, and does not look at your application or advise on it. Immigration advice in the UK is regulated: for advice on your own case, use an adviser registered with the Immigration Advice Authority, or a regulated lawyer.

General information, not legal advice.