Fees & Costs · 4 min read
Health and Care Worker Dependent Visa Fee: £628 or £877? The Answer
The correct dependent visa fee for Health and Care Worker visa holders is £628, not £877. Why the GOV.UK fee tool shows both amounts and which one to pay.
If you are on a UK Health and Care Worker visa and applying for a dependent visa for your partner or child, you may have noticed that GOV.UK shows two different fee amounts — £628 in one place and £877 in another. This is a genuine source of confusion and the wrong choice means paying the incorrect fee, which can delay or complicate your application.
The short answer: Health and Care Worker dependants pay £628, not £877. Here is why both figures appear and how to make sure you pay the right one.
Why two different figures appear on GOV.UK
The £877 figure is the standard dependent visa fee forSkilled Worker visa dependants applying for up to 3 years from outside the UK. The £628 figure is the reduced fee for Health and Care Worker visadependants — a deliberate concession introduced when the Health and Care Worker route was created to make sponsoring overseas healthcare staff more affordable.
Both figures appear on GOV.UK because the fee tool on one page covers the general Skilled Worker route, while the specific Health and Care Worker fee table is on a different page. If you use the general visa fee tool without selecting the Health and Care Worker route specifically, it defaults to the standard Skilled Worker fee of £877.
The correct fees for Health and Care Worker dependants (from April 2026)
| Visa duration | Applying from outside UK | Applying from inside UK |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 3 years | £628 | £551 |
| Over 3 years | £1,028 | £878 |
Do Health and Care Worker dependants pay the Immigration Health Surcharge?
No. Health and Care Worker visa holders and their dependants are exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge. This is one of the most significant financial advantages of the Health and Care Worker route — at £1,035 per person per year, the IHS saving for a 3-year visa with one dependant is £6,210.
If the online application form asks you to pay the IHS for a Health and Care Worker dependant, double-check that you have selected the correct visa category. The IHS should be £0 for this route.
How to make sure you select the right fee when applying
When completing the online application for a dependant:
- Select “Health and Care Worker (dependant)”as the visa type — not “Skilled Worker (dependant)”
- The main applicant's visa type determines the dependant's fee category — if your visa is Health and Care Worker, your dependant applies under the Health and Care Worker dependant route
- If the fee shown is £877, you have selected the wrong route — go back and select the Health and Care Worker option
Use VisaVault's dependent visa calculator to calculate the correct fees for your specific situation, including which route applies to your dependant.
Last verified: June 2026. Fees correct as of 8 April 2026. Verify current fees at the Home Office immigration and nationality fees page on GOV.UK before paying.
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VisaVault is a document preparation service, not an immigration adviser or solicitor. This article is based on current UKVI published guidance and is intended for general information only. Requirements change without notice. Always verify current requirements on GOV.UK before submitting your application.