Costs information for individuals making immigration applications as per the SRA Transparency Rules
This costs information is provided pursuant to the SRA Transparency Rules and the Price and Service Transparency guidance provided by the Law Society.
The Rules require us to provide costs information in relation to the preparation and submission of immigration applications. We do not provide advice or assistance on asylum matters.
The costs information we have provided is a guide and is not a binding quote for working on your matter. Once you instruct us, we will provide you with a fee estimate tailored to your matter.
The information provided does not amount to legal advice. We are have to provide you with information about likely third party costs, such as barristers’ fees. As changes are made by the third parties we are not responsible for any errors in this information, which we are providing to you based on our experience and as a guide only.
One or more of our immigration team will work on your application. The team’s contact details, experience and qualifications are available here.
Every member of our team is supervised by the Managing Director.
We do not usually work under a conditional fee agreement or damages-based agreement but such arrangements may be available on request.
The prices set out at section 5 below are an estimate of the range of costs for a standard immigration application. A full estimate can be provided by contacting the adviser allocated to your matter.
The fee range for the various possible visa applications is due our solicitors and other advisers having different levels of experience .Typically, your adviser on a standard application will be an adviser, paralegal or solicitor with between two to ten years’ post qualification experience (or equivalent). All of our advisers are supervised by the Managing Director of the firm who has considerable expertise in making immigration applications on behalf of individuals.
A standard application will typically involve one applicant:
You will be provided with an application specific estimate for your matter, despite whether your application is standard or non-standard.
A non-standard application may include any of the following. However, some of these items may also be relevant to standard applications, in which case they will be charged for as separate items in addition to the standard application fee range:
The costs information and any application-specific fee estimate is provided to you on the basis that:
the amount of communication (phone calls, emails etc) and other correspondence received from you or others involved in your application is not excessive;
Where we consider that communication is excessive, we will endeavour to work with you to reduce the volume but where this is not possible, we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible of any additional fees or other costs that you are likely to incur.
Similarly, if information is not provided to us within a reasonable period of time, is incomplete or inaccurate, which results in us spending additional time on your application, we will advise you of any additional fees or other costs that you are likely to incur as a result.
Disbursements are expenses related to your application that are payable to us or to third parties, such as visa application fees, Barrister fees or translation fees. Sometimes we will handle payment of disbursements on your behalf. Alternatively, you may be asked to pay them direct.
The relevant visa application costs (correct at the time of writing) set out below have been given as an indication of the standard application fee that you can expect to pay for the type of application you are making.
For some application types, links have been given to the relevant Government/Home Office page so that you may check for updates. The visa application fees are set down by the Home Office. There may be concessions for nationals of certain countries (eg Turkey or Macedonia). These lower fees will be confirmed upon instruction, if applicable.
For applications where the Immigration Health Surcharge is payable, the cost of this charge per year of visa is confirmed below.
Other possible disbursements for standard applications include:
If your application is non-standard applications, higher visa fees will be payable for priority or super priority applications. These vary from country to country. Those costs are set out on either Teleperformance or VFS Global, depending on the country you are applying from.
The standard rate of UK VAT, which is currently 20%, is charged on all disbursements. There are exceptions which are set out below.
VAT is added on to our standard services such as travel and bulk photocopying costs. The only circumstances where we do not charge VAT (in relation to disbursements) are where:-
The length of time it will take us to work on and lodge your visa application, is set out below. This is an indication only. We can give you a more accurate estimate once we have more information about your specific application and circumstances.
The published processing times for each application, set out below, are provided by the Home Office/UK Government and are estimates only, correct at the time of writing. We have no control over these timescales and applications can be subject to delay based on various factors including the Home Office’s case volume; the complexity of the application; the need for more information; internal Home Office changes or the need to interview you. This list is not exhaustive.
The processing time may be quicker if you use a priority or super priority service, if applicable.
(1) Applying to become a British citizen, through naturalisation or registration
(a) Average cost: £850.00 – £1,500 plus VAT and disbursements (lower end of estimate is likely for naturalisation applications and the higher end for registrations)
(b) Likely disbursements: the cost of a British citizenship application or registration depends on the route to citizenship. A list of the application fees and the citizenship ceremony fee is available at the www.gov.uk website.
(c) Other costs as required as set out in section 4
(d) Key stages and likely timescales:
Likely timescale for stage 1 – between 2 to 6 weeks from instructions.
Likely timescale for stage 2 – the current published processing time is up to six months
Likely timescale for stage 3 – up to 1 week
(a) Average cost: £800 – £2,000 plus VAT and disbursements (lower end of fee estimate applies to non-Accession Worker applicants and the higher end for applicants who fall under other more complex work or other categories such as studying, self-sufficiency, self-employment etc. or who need to rely on a combination of qualifying categories including retained worker status issues)
(b) Likely disbursements: this can be found of the www.gov.uk website
(c) Other costs as required as set out in section 4
(d) Key stages and likely timescales:
Likely timescale for stage 1 – between 2 to 6 weeks
Likely timescale for stage 2 – see www.gov.uk/visa-processing-times
Likely timescale for stage 3 –up to 1 week
(a) Average cost: £1,000 – £2,500 plus VAT and disbursements (lower end if married, higher end if unmarried partner or newlyweds or for couple divorcing and applying for retained rights of residence). Additional documents will be required for newlyweds and unmarried partners such as co-habitation documentation and supporting documents to prove the relationship is durable, genuine and subsisting. Additional documentation required for divorcing couples includes proof of residence over the relevant three- year period, evidence of the EEA national spouse’s ID and economic activity, evidence of domestic violence or other compelling evidence, access rights/custody of children
(b) Likely disbursements: please see www.gov.uk
(c) Other costs as required as set out in section 4
(d) Key stages and likely timescales:
Likely timescale for stage 1 – between 2 to 6 weeks from instructions
Likely timescale for stage 2 – see www.gov.uk/visa-processing-times
Likely timescale for stage 3 – no more than 1 week
(4) Working holiday visas
(a) Average cost: £850 – £2,500 plus VAT and disbursements
(b) Likely disbursements:
Visa application fee – see www.gov.uk
Immigration Health Surcharge fee – please see https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/how-much-pay for current rates
(c) Other costs as required as set out in section 4
(d) Key stages and likely timescales:
Likely timescale for stage 1 – between 2 to 4 weeks
Likely timescale for stage 2 – see www.gov.uk/visa-processing-times
(5) Visit visas (tourism/family visits)
(a) Average cost: £700 – £2,500 plus VAT and disbursements (higher end for third party sponsorship)
(b) Likely disbursements:
Visa application fee – please see www.gov.uk
In addition, the Immigration Skills Charge will be payable for any visitor visa over six months in length. This is £400 per year of visa
(c) Other costs as required as set out in section 4.
(d) Key stages and likely timescales:
Likely timescale for stage 1 – between 2 to 4 weeks
Likely timescale for stage 2 – see www.gov.uk/visa-processing-times
Likely timescale for stage 3 – no more than 1 week
(6) Family member of a British citizen visas
(a) Average cost: £900 – £3000 plus VAT and disbursements (lower end of fees estimate to assist with a Category A applicant (i.e. a British national sponsor in salaried employment) and higher end for more complex visa categories, such as where the financial evidence includes non-salaried employment, non-employment income, cash savings, Self-employed or Director route)
(b) Likely disbursements:
Visa application fee – please see gov.uk
Immigration Health Surcharge fee of £400 per year of visa
(c) Other costs as required as set out in section 4
(d) Key stages and likely timescales:
Likely timescale for stage 1 – between 3 to 12 weeks
Likely timescale for stage 2 – see www.gov.uk/visa-processing-times
Likely timescale for stage 3 – up to 1 week
(7) Exceptional Talent visas
(e) Average cost: £1000 – £3,000 plus VAT and disbursements
(f) Likely disbursements:
Endorsement Fee and Visa application fee – please see www.gov.uk
Immigration Health Surcharge fee of £400 per year of visa
(g) Other costs as required as set out in section 4
(h) Key stages and likely timescales:
Likely timescale for stage 1 – between 8 to 12 weeks
Applying to Home Office for an endorsement from one of the designated bodies in digital technology, the arts, humanities, engineering or science. Work includes:
Should your endorsement be successful, the next step is to submit a visa application. Next steps include:
Likely timescale for stage 3 – see www.gov.uk/visa-processing-times
Likely timescale for stage 4 –up to 1 week
(a) Average cost: £1,500 – £3,000 plus VAT and disbursements
(b) Likely disbursements:
(c) Other costs as required as set out in section 4
(d) Key stages and likely timescales:
Likely timescale for stage 1 – between 3 to 9 weeks
Likely timescale for stage 2 – see www.gov.uk/visa-processing-times
Consideration of your application by the Home Office
Likely timescale for stage 3 – up to 1 week
(i) 5 year route
(a) Average cost: £1,500 – £3,000 plus VAT and disbursements
(b) Likely disbursements: see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-regulations-revised-table
(c) Other costs as required as set out in section 4
(d) Key stages and likely timescales:
Likely timescale for stage 1 – between 3 to 6 weeks
Likely timescale for stage 2 – see www.gov.uk/visa-processing-times
Likely timescale for stage 3 –up to 1 week
ii)10 year route
(a) Average cost: £2,500 – £5,000 plus VAT and disbursements (dependent on complexity of case and immigration history)
(b) Likely disbursements: please see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-regulations-revised-table
(c) Other costs as required as set out in section 4
(d) Key stages and likely timescales:
Likely timescale for stage 1 – between 4 to 9 weeks
Likely timescale for stage 2 – see www.gov.uk/visa-processing-times
Likely timescale for stage 3 –up to 1 week
The standard rate of UK VAT, which is currently 20%, is charged on our fees. The only circumstances where we do not charge VAT (in relation to fees) are where:-
We are billing an EU registered company and we are able to quote their VAT number on the face of our invoice. If we are billing an individual who resides in the EU we have to charge VAT as they will not be a VAT registered entity;
We are billing an individual residing in a country that is outside of the EU which falls outside the scope for UK VAT.
You’re welcome to call us on +44 020 7903 6888 or email us at contact@davenportsolicitors.com. We aim to reply within 24 hours.
