UK Student Visa Fees in Indian Rupees : Complete Cost Breakdown

Most students focus entirely on tuition when calculating the cost of studying in the UK.

The visa costs are treated as a minor footnote – a few hundred pounds, sorted quickly, doesn’t need much thought.

In practice, the full visa cost for a UK student is considerably higher than the headline £558 application fee suggests, and if you’re bringing dependants, the number becomes significantly larger.

This article breaks down every cost component – the visa fee, the Immigration Health Surcharge, and the financial proof requirements – in both GBP and Indian Rupees, so you can plan accurately before you apply.

The Basic UK Student Visa Fee

The UK Student Visa (Subclass 4) costs £558 per applicant. This applies whether you are applying from India before you travel, or whether you’re already in the UK and applying to extend your existing visa or switch to a student visa from another category.

At the October 2026 exchange rate, £558 converts to approximately INR 71,060.

This fee is per person. If multiple members of your family are applying simultaneously, each person pays separately. There are no group discounts or family rates.

The fee applies regardless of how long your course runs. A one-year master’s and a five-year medical degree both cost £558 in application fee.

The Immigration Health Surcharge : Often Bigger Than the Visa Fee Itself

The IHS is the charge that gives you access to the UK’s National Health Service for the duration of your visa. It’s paid at the time of your visa application, upfront, for the entire anticipated duration of your stay.

The standard IHS rate for students is £776 per year. But here is where it gets more complicated than most students expect.

The UK Home Office doesn’t just grant you a visa for the exact duration of your course. They add a buffer period before and after the academic dates – typically a few months at the start to allow you to arrive and settle, and a few months at the end to cover the post-course period before you apply for the Graduate Route or leave the country.

Because of how the IHS calculation rounds up to the next six-month bracket, you end up paying for more than your course length.

For a one-year master’s program, the visa grant typically runs to roughly 16 or 17 months because of this buffer. The IHS calculation rounds up to 18 months (one and a half years), meaning you pay £776 multiplied by 1.5, which comes to £1,164 – not the £776 you’d expect for a one-year course.

For a three-year undergraduate program, the actual visa grant includes buffer time that pushes the total to approximately 3.5 years’ worth of IHS. At £776 per year, that’s £776 multiplied by 3.5, equaling £2,716.

At October 2026 exchange rates, £1,164 converts to approximately INR 1,48,216 and £2,716 converts to approximately INR 3,45,916.

There’s a specific exception for short courses. If your course is six months or less and you’re applying from outside the UK, there is no IHS charge – it’s zero. This applies to short-term study programs, summer schools, and intensive language courses that fall within the six-month threshold.

For courses between six months and one year in duration, the IHS is £776 – a flat charge rather than a pro-rated calculation.

True Total Visa Costs : What You’re Actually Paying

Taking the visa application fee and IHS together, the real upfront visa cost in INR for Indian students looks like this.

For a one-year master’s program: the visa fee of £558 plus the IHS of £1,164 gives a total of £1,722, which converts to approximately INR 2,19,276.

For a three-year undergraduate program: the visa fee of £558 plus the IHS of £2,716 gives a total of £3,274, which converts to approximately INR 4,16,976.

These are not small amounts and they’re not included in any university fee statement. They come entirely from your own pocket before you’ve bought a flight or paid a semester’s tuition.

Financial Proof Requirements : The Money You Must Show in Your Bank

Paying the visa fees is only one part of the financial requirement. You must also demonstrate to UK Visas and Immigration that you have enough money to live on during your studies in the UK.

The required amount depends on where in the UK you’re studying.

For students studying in London, you must show £1,570 per month available in your bank account. If you’re calculating for the maximum nine-month period that UKVI uses for assessment purposes, the total you need to demonstrate is £14,130.

For students studying anywhere outside London, the requirement is £1,203 per month, totalling £10,827 for nine months.

At October 2026 exchange rates, £14,130 converts to approximately INR 17,99,557 for London students. For outside London, £10,827 converts to approximately INR 13,79,280.

The critical condition: these funds must have been in your bank account continuously for at least 28 consecutive days. The 28-day window must fall within the 31 days immediately before your visa application date. Money that appeared in your account recently or that comes and goes does not satisfy this requirement. Consistent, stable funds held for the relevant period is what UKVI wants to see.

The financial proof exemption: if you’ve been living in the UK on a valid visa for 12 or more continuous months at the time of your application, you don’t need to meet the financial proof requirement. This applies to students who are switching from one visa category to another while already in the UK with a valid visa history.

Dependant Visa Costs : Why Bringing Family Roughly Doubles Your Expenses

The rules around bringing family members to the UK while studying changed significantly in recent years. As of 2027, you can only bring dependants if you are enrolled in a postgraduate research program – specifically a PhD, a research-based master’s degree, or a Doctor of Education. Students on taught master’s programs, undergraduate programs, or any non-research postgraduate program cannot bring dependants.

Government-sponsored students on courses lasting more than six months are also eligible to bring dependants.

If you do qualify and want to bring a spouse and children, each dependant pays an identical visa application fee of £558 and an IHS fee of £776 per year of their stay in the UK.

Additionally, each dependant requires their own financial proof. For a dependant joining a student studying in London, this is £845 per month per dependant, with a maximum nine-month assessment period of £7,605 per person. For a dependant joining a student studying outside London, this is £680 per month per dependant, totalling £6,120 for nine months.

If a dependant is under 18, the IHS is charged at a reduced rate – check the current Home Office schedule for the precise junior rate, as this is updated periodically.

If a dependant is 18 or over, the IHS is charged at the same rate as the main applicant.

Failing to pay IHS – or paying a partial amount – results in your visa application being marked invalid and not processed. You would receive guidance from UK Visas and Immigration on how to correct the payment before the application can proceed.

A Practical Planning Figure For Indian Students

To give you a single planning number: an Indian student doing a one-year master’s at a UK university outside London should budget approximately INR 2,19,276 for visa costs alone (visa fee plus IHS), in addition to financial proof of approximately INR 13,79,280 in accessible bank funds.

The proof money stays in your account – it doesn’t get paid to anyone – but it needs to be there and visible for 28 days before application.

For a three-year undergraduate student outside London, the visa cost component is approximately INR 4,16,976, with the same financial proof requirement.

These figures are based on October 2026 exchange rates and are subject to change as exchange rates fluctuate and as the UK government reviews fee structures. Always verify current fees on gov.uk before submitting any application.