Government Announce Increase to Immigration & Nationality Fees

Planned 2025 Updates to Immigration & Nationality Fees

The latest Home Office review of immigration fees was announced on 16th January 2025 with four incoming fee changes. The fee changes aim to reduce the migration and border system’s reliance on taxpayer funding. They are projected to generate an additional £269 million annually. The proposed adjustments include:

• Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA): Fee increase from £10 to £16.
• Certificate of Sponsorship: Fee increase from £239 to £525 for workers, and £25 to £55 for temporary workers
• Naturalisation as a British Citizen: Fee increase from £1500 to £1,605.
• Naturalisation as a British Overseas Territories Citizen: Fee increase from £1000 to £1,070.

ETA fee increase

The UK introduced the ETA for all visa-exempt travellers outside Europe on 8 January 2025. European applicants require an ETA from 2 April 2025, and applications open on 5 March 2025. Perhaps surprisingly, the fee is already scheduled for a hike to £16 from the original £10. 

The fee increase comes as the government u-turns on plans for the ETA to apply to airside transits amid pressure from major airports like Heathrow. Airport transfers for visa-free travellers are now exempt from requiring an ETA for connecting flights.

Certificate of Sponsorship Increases

Recent updates to the sponsorship system have hit businesses hard. The latest is a near-doubling of the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) fees, which is likely to be implemented in spring 2025. 

The planned increase follows mixed news for businesses hiring overseas talent as compliance measures and sanctions for businesses were enforced, meaning many businesses have been forced to review their immigration strategy and systems. On the bright side, auto-renewals took place, extending sponsor licences due for renewal after April 2024 for 10 years. 

You can see all the sponsor licence changes affecting UK businesses here

Citizenship Increases

In line with the changes to British Citizenship by Naturalisation application fees, there have been further changes to costs to amend, renounce and review and citizenship, including:

• Renunciation of British citizenship: Fees will rise from £450 to £482.
• Amendments to citizenship certificates: Charges will increase from £400 to £428.
• Review of decisions: Administrative review fees will increase from £450 to £482.
• Right of abode documentation: Costs will increase from £550 to £589.