Facts checked on 9 and 17 October 2026 against the sources linked below. Rules change often — check the official page before you act. This is shared experience, not legal or financial advice.

Work, study and family routes

Fees are GOV.UK's as published in September 2026; a new Home Office fee table is dated 8 October 2026, so check the route's page the week you apply. Most visas add the Immigration Health Surcharge, paid upfront: £1,035 a year (£776 for students and under-18s).

  • Skilled Worker: licensed sponsor, RQF 6 job, £41,700 or the going rate, English B2. £819 (up to three years) or £1,618 from outside the UK; £943 or £1,865 inside (costs).
  • Health and Care Worker: doctors, nurses, allied health and social workers, usually £25,000 or more. £324 or £628, and no surcharge for you or your dependants.
  • Student: £558, plus £1,529 a month in London or £1,171 elsewhere for up to nine months (money). Only PhD and research-master's students, and government-sponsored students, may bring dependants.
  • Graduate: £937. Two years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026, 18 months on or after 1 January 2027.
  • India Young Professionals Scheme: ballot, ages 18–30, £340 plus £1,552 surcharge for 24 months.
  • Partner of a British or settled person: the sponsor earns £29,000 a year, or savings substitute. £2,064 outside the UK or £1,407 inside.

Parents on a visitor visa are charged 150% of NHS cost for hospital treatment, so they need travel insurance (NHS entitlements).

eVisas and share codes

Biometric residence permits have been replaced by eVisas in a free UKVI account. Add your current passport to the account before you travel, or the airline may not see your status. Employers, landlords in England and banks check your status with a share code, valid 90 days.

Settlement and citizenship

Indefinite leave to remain comes after five years on the Skilled Worker, Health and Care or partner routes. Time on a Student, Graduate or Senior or Specialist Worker visa does not count toward the five. The fee is £3,226, plus the Life in the UK test (£50) and English at B1. Spend no more than 180 days abroad in any twelve months, and do not leave the UK, Ireland or the Crown Dependencies while it is pending: travelling withdraws the application.

The Home Office consulted from 20 November 2025 to 12 February 2026 on a ten-year "earned settlement" baseline that would apply to people already here. On 9 October 2026 no rule change had been laid. Read the consultation page before relying on the five-year clock.

Citizenship follows twelve months on ILR (none if married to a British citizen), with at most 450 days abroad in five years and 90 in the final year. The fee is £1,709 plus £130 for the ceremony.

Indian passport and OCI

Confirm the sterling fees on VFS the week you pay.

  • Passport renewal: apply once it has less than a year left, on the missions-abroad Passport Seva portal, then at VFS. After the 1 July 2026 revision a 36-page adult booklet is £93 (£185 tatkal), plus £2 ICWF and £29.78 VFS: £124.78 all-in. Allow four to six weeks, or eight to fourteen if police verification is triggered. Then update your UKVI account.
  • Becoming British: India does not allow dual citizenship, so the Indian passport is surrendered (certificate £30), and anyone naturalised on or after 1 June 2010 also renounces (£79); each adds £2 ICWF and £29.78 VFS. Using the Indian passport after a three-month grace period costs ₹10,000 a journey.
  • OCI: £215 plus £3 ICWF and £29.78 VFS, £247.78 in all, on ociservices.gov.in and then at VFS. VFS quotes six to eight weeks. Since 8 July 2026 it is an e-OCI you download.

What to ask here

  • How long did your decision, ILR or OCI take, and at which centre?
  • Which documents did VFS or the mission ask for in your case?
  • Who has switched from Graduate to Skilled Worker lately?

Full guides: Indians in the UK · Indian passport renewal in the UK · OCI card from the UK