How UK VisaCalc calculates

Every result on this site is a published rule applied to the figures you enter. The rules come from GOV.UK only, are kept in dated parameter files, and each calculation is tested against the worked examples GOV.UK prints. Rules were last read on 13 October 2026; the fee table is the one in force from 8 October 2026.

1. Fees

The Home Office publishes its fees as a spreadsheet, a new one with each change (12 since 31 January 2024). The site reads every version and keeps each line with its history; a calculator asks for "Skilled Worker, up to three years, outside the UK" and receives the amount of that line in the current table. If the Home Office renames a line, the lookup fails and the site is not rebuilt until it is fixed, so an old figure cannot stay online by accident. Source: Home Office: immigration and nationality fees, table of 8 October 2026 (ODS), read 2026-10-13.

2. Immigration health surcharge

£1,035 per person per year, £776 for students, their dependants, Youth Mobility applicants and anyone under 18 when applying. Six months or less: nothing from outside the UK, half a year from inside. Longer: whole years, plus half a year if the remainder is six months or less, or a full year if more. Not charged on Health and Care Worker visas, visitor visas or settlement. Source: GOV.UK: immigration health surcharge, how much you have to pay.

3. Skilled Worker salary

The tool reads the 412 occupation codes of Appendix Skilled Occupations with their table, going rates and printed discounted rates, the Immigration Salary List with its nations and criteria, and the Temporary Shortage List of SW 6.1A. For your code it decides whether the code is open (Table 1, Table 3, or Table 1a through a list or the transitional rules), takes the going rate, multiplies it by your weekly hours over 37.5, counts at most 48 hours of your salary, and requires the higher of the floor and the rate of your option. Health and education codes use the pay band you choose (Agenda for Change, teachers' scales or doctors' grades) with a £25,000 floor. Sources: Immigration Rules, Appendix Skilled Worker (HC 584, updated 8 October 2026), Immigration Rules, Appendix Skilled Occupations: SOC 2020 codes and going rates, Immigration Rules, Appendix Immigration Salary List.

4. Spouse and partner income

Required income: £29,000; for partners first granted before 11 April 2024 who extend, £18,600 plus £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 for each other non-British child, capped at £29,000. Savings needed to cover a shortfall: £16,000 plus 2.5 times the shortfall (1 time at settlement). Sources: GOV.UK: financial requirements if you are applying as a partner or spouse, Immigration Rules, Appendix FM: family members (E-ECP.3.1, E-LTRP.3.1).

5. ILR date and absences

Qualifying years counted from the start date you enter; application possible 28 days before they end (Appendix Continuous Residence, CR 1.1). Absences: whole days only, so a trip from 1 July to 10 August counts 39 days; at most 180 days in any 12-month window, each window ending on a day abroad and starting the day after the same date a year earlier. A breach restarts the period on the return date of the trip that caused it. Long residence keeps the old limits of 548 days in total and 184 at a time for absences that began before 11 April 2024. Sources: Immigration Rules, Appendix Continuous Residence (180 days in any 12 months), Home Office: continuous residence caseworker guidance, version 10.0 (whole days, rolling 12 months).

6. Citizenship date

The first day, on or after twelve months of ILR (or the ILR date for the spouse of a British citizen), when: the five years before it (three for a spouse) hold no more than 450 days abroad (270), the last twelve months no more than 90, and you were in the UK on the first day of the period. Sources: GOV.UK: apply for citizenship if you have indefinite leave to remain, GOV.UK: apply for citizenship if your spouse is a British citizen.

7. Decision dates

The UKVI service standards are in weeks of the UK working week and include public holidays, so a standard of three weeks is counted as 21 calendar days from the identity check or biometrics. Priority (five working days) and super priority (next working day, two for settlement) skip weekends and bank holidays of England and Wales. Sources: UKVI: visa processing times, applications outside the UK (updated 9 September 2026), UKVI: visa processing times, applications inside the UK (updated 9 September 2026).

8. Tests against GOV.UK examples

One discrepancy found on GOV.UK itself: the Graduate visa page gives £1,152.50 as the surcharge for an 18-month visa, while the surcharge rules give £1,552.50 (one year plus half a year at £1,035). The calculators follow the surcharge rules; the Home Office computes the exact amount when you apply.

9. Limits

• The tools do not judge evidence, genuineness, suitability (criminal record, past breaches) or the caseworker's discretion.
• The occupation code must be the one your sponsor would choose; a wrong code changes everything.
• Visa lengths are entered in months; the Home Office calculates the surcharge from the exact dates, which can add half a year when a visa runs a few days past a whole year.
• Rules that have been proposed but not laid (earned settlement) are not applied.
• Not legal advice; not affiliated with the Home Office.