Tier 2 Sponsorship
WORKING IN THE UK: UK TIER 2 APPLICATION FEES
This section sets out the costs of applications for Tier 2 (General) of the points-based system (PBS), and explains how to pay your Tier 2 application fee.
General - The application fee that you must pay depends on whether you are applying for Tier 2 from within the UK or outside the UK - and, if you are inside the UK, on whether you are applying for Tier 2 by post or in person. If you applying from inside the UK and are sending applications for your family members (known as dependants) at the same time as your own application, you can pay a reduced fee for your family members' applications by sending them with your own application in one envelope.
More information -
Tier 2 (General, Sportsperson, Minister of Religion) application fees - These are the application costs for applicants under Tier 2 (General), Tier 2 (Sportsperson) and Tier 2 (Minister of religion) of the points-based system:
|
Fee if you are applying by post in the UK |
Fee if you are applying in person inside the UK |
Fee if you are applying outside the UK |
Main applicant |
£561 |
£867 |
£480 |
Main applicant (if they are a national of Croatia, Turkey or FYR of Macedonia) |
£505 |
£780 |
£432 |
Partner or child aged under 18 (if they are applying at the same time as the main applicant) |
£281 for each family member included on the main applicant's application form |
£434 for each family member included on the main applicant's application form |
£480 for each family member |
Partner or child aged under 18 (if they are applying at the same time as the main applicant, who is a national of Croatia, Turkey or FYR of Macedonia) |
£281 for each family member included on the main applicant's application form |
£434 for each family member included on the main applicant's application form |
£480 for each family member |
Partner or child aged under 18 (if they are applying later), or child aged over 18 |
£561 for each family member |
£867 for each family member |
£480 for each family member |
Fees for nationals of Croatia, Turkey and FYR of Macedonia: nationals of these countries pay a reduced fee as shown above. These countries have ratified the 1961 Council of Europe Social Charter.
Withdrawing your application - When the payment handling service has received your application, the Tier 2 application fee is charged. The fee cannot then be refunded if you withdraw your application.
Duplicate applications - If you send more than one request for Tier 2, you will be charged the application fee for each application.
How to pay your application fee if you are inside the UK -
If you are applying online, you must pay your fee online as part of your application.
If you are applying by post or courier, you can choose how to pay your application fees:
- By cheque in sterling on a UK bank account. The application form will tell you who to make the cheque payable to, you should write your full name and date of birth on the back, and attach the cheque to the front of the completed application form.
- With a UK postal order. You should write your full name and date of birth on the back, and attach the postal order to the front of the completed application form.
- With a credit or debit card - American Express, MasterCard, Visa (including Electron), Delta or Maestro (including Solo). For postal and courier payments, we accept only Maestro cards issued in the UK. You must include the card number, the amount paid, the payer's name as it appears on the card, the 'valid from' and expiry dates, the card verification value (CVV) code, the cardholder's signature and the date. The issue number is also needed for Maestro cards.
If you are applying and paying in person at a public enquiry office, you can choose how to pay your application fee:
- With a UK postal order (except at our Glasgow and Cardiff offices). You should write your full name and date of birth on the back.
- By banker's draft (except at our Glasgow and Cardiff offices).
- With a credit or debit card - American Express, MasterCard, Visa (including Electron), Delta or Maestro (including Solo). We can accept any Maestro card for payments at a public enquiry office. You must include the card number, the amount paid, the payer's name as it appears on the card, the 'valid from' and expiry dates, the card verification value (CVV) code, the cardholder's signature and the date. The issue number is also needed for Maestro cards. The cardholder must be present for the payment to be taken.
Payment for Tier 2 application by any other method is not accepted. You must send the full amount to cover the total cost of your application. If you do not do this, your application will be invalid and will not be considered. We will return your application and part payment to you.
We start considering the application when the payment has cleared. Payments are cleared: after 5 working days for cheques; after 1 working day for credit or debit cards; immediately for postal orders.
Please note that, if you are making numerous payments using your credit card, the anti-fraud measures that banks operate sometimes stop payment being taken. This may be because you have exceeded the maximum limit on a single transaction or the number of transactions allowed in a given period of time. You must ensure that you contact your bank in advance, so that the bank will allow the full payment to be taken without any problems when you submit your applications.
Payment information on the application form - It is very important that you complete the payment section of the Tier 2 application form correctly. If this section contains errors, we will not be able to process your payment. This will mean that your application is invalid.
How to pay your Tier 2 application fee if you are outside the UK -
If you are applying from outside the UK, the visa services centres overseas section contains information about the application process and fees in the country where you are applying from.