Effective 21 October 2025, the cost of speeding up key immigration services inside the UK rose sharply. The fee to fast-track individual sponsorship-management requests climbed 75 percent—from £200 to £350—while the priority service for a new sponsor licence jumped 50 percent to £750. The increases were confirmed in an update to the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations and apply to employers, universities and temporary-worker sponsors who opt for the accelerated service.
Immigration-law firm Fragomen notes that the hikes cap a two-year period in which many UK visa-related charges have risen by double digits, citing higher civil-service wage costs and Home Office IT investment. Although the standard (non-priority) fees remain unchanged, organisations that rely on rapid turnaround—particularly when onboarding senior hires or meeting academic intake deadlines—will feel the immediate impact on budgets.
Global mobility managers should revisit cost forecasts for the remainder of FY 2025/26 and consider whether all priority requests are still justified. Some employers are exploring work-arounds such as scheduling key moves earlier, using existing group CoS allocations, or sharing licence capacity across group entities to avoid repeat priority filings.
The increases also raise equity concerns: smaller sponsors and scale-ups may now find the fast-track option prohibitive, potentially lengthening lead times for mission-critical assignments.
Immigration-law firm Fragomen notes that the hikes cap a two-year period in which many UK visa-related charges have risen by double digits, citing higher civil-service wage costs and Home Office IT investment. Although the standard (non-priority) fees remain unchanged, organisations that rely on rapid turnaround—particularly when onboarding senior hires or meeting academic intake deadlines—will feel the immediate impact on budgets.
Global mobility managers should revisit cost forecasts for the remainder of FY 2025/26 and consider whether all priority requests are still justified. Some employers are exploring work-arounds such as scheduling key moves earlier, using existing group CoS allocations, or sharing licence capacity across group entities to avoid repeat priority filings.
The increases also raise equity concerns: smaller sponsors and scale-ups may now find the fast-track option prohibitive, potentially lengthening lead times for mission-critical assignments.
