Nigerian daily Vanguard broke the news late last night (31 March 2026) that the UK government will raise a broad range of visa fees on 8 April, with some categories jumping by as much as £222. The short-stay visitor visa (six-month validity) will nudge from £127 to £135, while five-year visitor visas will hit £903. Work routes are also affected: a skilled-worker visa (up to three years, filed outside the UK) will now cost £819. Student and graduate-route fees see similar percentage hikes. The Home Office says the increases are designed to fund border-security measures and partially offset the cost of processing a record 1.2 million applications last year. Of particular note is an “emergency brake” that suspends student-visa issuance for applicants from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan—citing “significant asylum-risk profiles”. The brake echoes recent French and German moves and signals a harder UK stance ahead of the autumn party-conference season. Employers with emerging-market talent pipelines should factor in the higher government fees plus the already-announced rise in the Immigration Health Surcharge. Mobility managers may wish to fast-track priority-graduate or intra-company transfer filings before the 7 April cut-off. Beyond cost, the announcement underscores a broader political narrative: the UK is determined to prove to voters that legal migration is being tightened even as labour-market shortages persist. Corporates should prepare for further policy volatility in 2026–27, including possible caps on care-worker visas and tougher salary thresholds.
Source: Vanguard
