Meeting in Grand Committee on 3 March 2026, peers approved the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2026, a statutory instrument that raises the *maximum* amounts the Home Office can charge for a wide range of immigration functions. The order itself does not change the payable fees overnight but enables ministers to do so by secondary legislation later this year. Headline changes include lifting the cap on Electronic Travel Authorisation fees from £16 to £20, paving the way for a 25 per cent price jump only weeks after full ETA enforcement began. The ceiling for two-year visit visas will rise to £506, while settlement-route and naturalisation maxima increase modestly to £3,635 and £1,709 respectively. Home Office minister Lord Hanson of Flint told the committee the increases could raise £1.8 billion over five years, reducing the burden on taxpayers and funding “a strong and important immigration system”. Opposition peers did not force a vote but questioned whether the higher ETA cost had been modelled for its impact on tourism, particularly via Northern Ireland given the land border with the Republic. The minister argued that £20 aligns the UK with the US ESTA and forthcoming EU ETIAS fees and is therefore “reasonable”. For employers and travel managers the order signals higher direct costs for visitor, work and settlement applications later in 2026. Forward budgeting should therefore include a 6.5–25 per cent uplift in Home Office charges, with group programmes such as graduate intakes potentially seeing thousands of pounds in additional fees.
Source: Hansard (UK Parliament)
