Most GBM fee guides show you one number. Maybe two. Then they move on.
That is not how GBM deployments work. Budgeting for an overseas worker transfer involves at least four separate fee layers, and the one most finance teams forget is often the biggest. On a three-year Senior or Specialist Worker deployment with a partner and one child, the total bill can clear £15,000 before a single piece of legal advice is paid for.
On 8 April 2026, the Home Office increased fees across most immigration routes, including Global Business Mobility. Any budget set before that date needs revisiting. This article gives you the current figures, broken down by route, by payer, and by deployment scenario so you know exactly what to plan for.
The four fee layers in every GBM deployment
Before the tables, the framework. GBM costs fall into four categories, and confusing who pays which is where compliance problems start.
Layer 1: The visa application fee. Paid by the worker. Varies by route, duration, and whether the application is made inside or outside the UK.
Layer 2: The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). Also paid by the worker. £1,035 per adult per year, charged upfront for the full visa duration at the point of application.
Layer 3: Employer sponsor costs. This is the sponsor licence fee, the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) fee, and on one route only, the Immigration Skills Charge (ISC). These are paid by the employer.
Layer 4: Optional and ancillary costs. Priority processing (+£500), Super Priority (+£1,000), dependant applications, TB certificates, document translation, biometrics. These vary by applicant and circumstance.
The IHS is consistently the number that catches finance teams off guard. On a three-year visa, £1,035 per year means £3,105 per person, paid upfront on the day the application is submitted. That figure multiplies fast when dependants are involved.
GBM visa application fees by route: 2026
All fees below are effective from 8 April 2026. For most Business Mobility Visa UK routes, the fee is the same regardless of whether the application is made inside or outside the UK. The key exception is Senior or Specialist Worker, where in-country applications cost more than applications made outside the UK.
GBM Route Outside UK Inside UK ISC payable? Senior or Specialist Worker up to 3 years £819 £943 Yes Senior or Specialist Worker more than 3 years £1,618 £1,865 Yes Graduate Trainee £340 £340 No UK Expansion Worker £340 £340 No Service Supplier £340 £340 No Secondment Worker £340 £340 No
Senior or Specialist Worker is by far the most expensive route. Graduate Trainee fees are fixed regardless of duration, reflecting the fact that graduate trainee visas are capped at 12 months. Expansion Worker tops out at two years, so the over-three-year band does not apply in practice.
The four lower-cost routes now sit at £340 each, up from £319 following the April 2026 fee increase. Low application fees do not mean low total costs. The IHS applies to all five routes regardless.
The Immigration Health Surcharge: the cost that multiplies
The IHS is paid upfront, in full, on the day the application goes in. It is not a monthly charge. It is not spread over the visa duration. For a three-year visa, the entire three years is charged at application.
The rate is £1,035 per adult per year. Children under 18 pay £776 per year.
One mechanic that trips up first-time sponsors: the IHS calculation for visas slightly over one year is not simply two full years charged. For a visa of more than one year but 18 months or less, you pay the yearly cost plus half the yearly cost. A 13-month adult visa costs £1,552.50. Only visas for more than 18 months but less than two years are charged at two full years. Use GOV.UK’s IHS calculator to get the exact figure before budgeting.
Dependants pay the same rate as the main applicant. A Senior or Specialist Worker coming for three years, bringing a spouse and one child under 18:
- Main applicant IHS: £3,105
- Spouse IHS: £3,105
- Child IHS: £2,328
- IHS total: £8,538
That is before the visa application fees, before the employer costs, before anything else.
The IHS is refunded if the visa is refused. If the worker leaves the UK before the visa expires, there is no automatic partial refund. Refunds are available only in specific circumstances such as refusal, withdrawal before decision, or shorter permission than applied for.
UK Expansion Workers can be joined by eligible dependent partners and dependent children. Their IHS and visa application costs must be budgeted separately.
Employer fees: sponsor licence, CoS, and the Immigration Skills Charge
These three costs sit entirely on the employer side.
Sponsor licence fee: £611 for small employers, £1,682 for medium or large, from 8 April 2026. Sponsor licences are valid indefinitely unless revoked or surrendered. The previous four-year limit no longer applies to most Worker sponsor licences. A licence is required before any CoS can be assigned on any GBM route.
Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) fee: the fee varies by route. Senior or Specialist Worker CoS costs £525. For Graduate Trainee, UK Expansion Worker, Service Supplier and Secondment Worker, the CoS fee is £55. An employer sponsoring a Senior or Specialist Worker pays £470 more per CoS than one using any of the other four routes. This is one of the most significant but least-discussed cost differences within the GBM framework.
Immigration Skills Charge (ISC): the ISC applies only to the Senior or Specialist Worker route, not to Graduate Trainee, Expansion Worker, Service Supplier, or Secondment Worker.
The rate from 16 December 2025 is £1,320 per year for medium and large employers, and £480 per year for small employers. It is paid upfront in full when the CoS is assigned.
A medium employer sponsoring a Senior or Specialist Worker for three years pays £3,960 in ISC. That is up from £3,000 at the previous £1,000/year rate, a 32% increase that took effect in December 2025. Any budget built before that date is short by £960 per worker per deployment.
The non-recoverability rule: the sponsor licence fee, CoS fee, ISC, and associated administrative costs must not be recovered from sponsored workers. Not through a salary deduction. Not through a repayment clause in the employment contract. Not through any contractual arrangement. Attempting to do so is a sponsor compliance breach that can result in licence revocation.
The visa application fee and IHS are paid by the worker directly. Employers can choose to reimburse these as a relocation benefit, and doing so is entirely compliant.
What a GBM deployment actually costs: two scenarios
Abstract fee tables only go so far. Here is what the total looks like in practice for two common deployment scenarios, using April 2026 figures.
Scenario A: Senior or Specialist Worker, 3 years, medium/large employer, no dependants, outside UK
Cost item Payer Amount Visa application fee (outside UK, up to 3yr) Worker £819 IHS (3 years) Worker £3,105 CoS fee Employer £525 ISC (3 years x £1,320) Employer £3,960 Sponsor licence (large, new) Employer £1,682 Total £10,091
Scenario B: UK Expansion Worker, 2 years, small employer, no dependants
Cost item Payer Amount Visa application fee (outside UK) Worker £340 IHS (2 years) Worker £2,070 CoS fee Employer £55 ISC Not applicable Sponsor licence (small, new) Employer £611 Total £3,076
The difference between these two scenarios is £7,015, driven primarily by the Senior or Specialist Worker CoS fee (£525 vs £55), the ISC on that route, and the higher application fee. For businesses where both routes are genuinely eligible for a specific worker, that gap should be part of the route decision conversation, not just an immigration consideration.
Costs most budgets miss entirely
A 10 to 20% contingency is standard in global mobility planning, and the following items explain why.
- TB certificate: required for applicants from listed countries. Approximately £50 to £150 per applicant.
- Biometric enrolment: varies by country and Visa Application Centre, typically £50 to £80.
- Document translation: if overseas employment history is not in English. £100 to £400 depending on volume.
- Refused application: a refused visa application spends the CoS permanently. A new CoS must be assigned and the IHS is refunded, but a new application requires a new IHS payment, new biometrics, and potentially new legal fees. The total cost of a refused and resubmitted application typically runs £2,000 to £4,000 beyond the original budget.
- Extension costs: every extension requires a new visa application fee, a new IHS payment, and a new ISC payment on the Senior or Specialist Worker route. For a three-year grant likely to extend, building the extension cost into the original budget is sensible planning.
Summary
The Senior or Specialist Worker route is the most expensive GBM deployment by a significant margin. The Graduate Trainee, Service Supplier, and Secondment Worker routes carry the lowest application fees and no ISC liability. The Expansion Worker sits in the middle: moderate fees, no ISC, but a two-year hard cap.
The ISC increased by 32% in December 2025 and is the most common budget surprise in GBM planning. The non-recoverability rule on sponsor licence, CoS and ISC fees is the most common compliance gap.
If you are building a GBM budget for the first time or updating one from before April 2026, use the scenarios above as a starting point, then add your specific duration, employer size, and dependant profile.
Fees reflect the Home Office schedule effective 8 April 2026. All figures are correct at May 2026 and subject to change. Verify current figures at gov.uk/visa-and-immigration before submitting any application. This article does not constitute legal or immigration advice. Consult a regulated adviser for guidance on your specific situation.
Fees reflect the Home Office schedule effective 8 April 2026. All figures are correct at May 2026 and subject to change. Verify current figures at gov.uk/visa-and-immigration before submitting any application. This article does not constitute legal or immigration advice consult a regulated adviser for guidance on your specific situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an employer pay the worker’s GBM visa application fee and IHS?
Yes. Employers can reimburse the visa application fee and IHS as a relocation benefit. This is permitted under Home Office rules and does not constitute a compliance breach. The fees that cannot be passed to or recovered from the worker are the Certificate of Sponsorship fee and the Immigration Skills Charge those must be borne by the employer regardless of any contractual arrangement.
Is the Immigration Skills Charge payable on all five GBM routes?
No. The ISC applies only to the Senior or Specialist Worker route. Graduate Trainee, UK Expansion Worker, Service Supplier, and Secondment Worker are all ISC-exempt. This is one of the most significant cost differentials between GBM routes and is worth factoring into route selection where eligibility is flexible.
What happens to the IHS if the visa application is refused?
The IHS is refunded in full if the application is refused. If the visa is granted but the worker leaves the UK before it expires, a partial refund can be claimed from UKVI but it requires a separate application and is not processed automatically.
Did GBM visa fees increase in April 2026?
Yes. The Home Office increased immigration and nationality fees on 8 April 2026, including across the Global Business Mobility routes. Any cost projection built before that date should be recalculated against the current fee schedule.
Can the Immigration Skills Charge be paid in instalments?
No. The ISC is paid in full upfront when the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned before the worker has even applied for the visa. It is not refundable if the worker leaves early, if the deployment is cut short, or if the sponsor licence is later revoked.
Can an employer pay the Skilled Worker visa UK fee and IHS?
Yes. Employers can pay or reimburse the Skilled Worker visa UK application fee and Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) as part of a relocation package. However, the Immigration Skills Charge and Certificate of Sponsorship fee must be paid by the employer and cannot legally be passed onto the worker.