Specialist immigration advisers reporting on a late-night Home Office briefing say that a sweeping package of fee increases will hit both individuals and sponsoring employers in the first half of 2025. The Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) – the digital pre-travel permit required for non-visa nationals – will rise from £10 to £16, a 60 % jump. More significantly for businesses, the fee for a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) will leap from £239 to £525.
Naturalisation costs will also go up: becoming a British citizen will rise from £1,500 to £1,605, and British Overseas Territories citizenship from £1,000 to £1,070. Although the Home Office has not fixed an implementation date, officials say the uplift will generate an extra £269 million a year and “reduce reliance on general taxation”.
![Government plans 2025 immigration-fee hike: ETA to rise 60 %, CoS to more than double]()
For global-mobility managers, the headline is budget impact: large sponsors issuing dozens of CoS a year face six-figure cost increases. Multinationals are therefore being advised to front-load Q1 and Q2 recruitment pipelines, lock in CoS allocations before the hike, and review assignment cost-projections. Travellers who rely on ETA – including frequent US, Canadian and Gulf executives – will also see higher trip budgets.
The announcement fits a wider fiscal narrative. After years of under-funding, the immigration system is moving toward full cost recovery. HR teams should expect further uprating of settlement-related fees when the next Spending Review is published.
Practical next steps: audit live and planned CoS issuance, brief finance on likely extra headcount costs, and communicate the ETA increase to mobility and travel-booking teams so that expense tools are updated in good time.
Naturalisation costs will also go up: becoming a British citizen will rise from £1,500 to £1,605, and British Overseas Territories citizenship from £1,000 to £1,070. Although the Home Office has not fixed an implementation date, officials say the uplift will generate an extra £269 million a year and “reduce reliance on general taxation”.
For global-mobility managers, the headline is budget impact: large sponsors issuing dozens of CoS a year face six-figure cost increases. Multinationals are therefore being advised to front-load Q1 and Q2 recruitment pipelines, lock in CoS allocations before the hike, and review assignment cost-projections. Travellers who rely on ETA – including frequent US, Canadian and Gulf executives – will also see higher trip budgets.
The announcement fits a wider fiscal narrative. After years of under-funding, the immigration system is moving toward full cost recovery. HR teams should expect further uprating of settlement-related fees when the next Spending Review is published.
Practical next steps: audit live and planned CoS issuance, brief finance on likely extra headcount costs, and communicate the ETA increase to mobility and travel-booking teams so that expense tools are updated in good time.
