How Much Is a UK Visa from Kenya? Full Cost Breakdown in KES 2026
The £719 visa fee is what most Kenyan applicants budget for. The actual cash they need to have liquid before travelling is closer to KES 883,000. The gap between those two numbers is where most people get caught out — either by an underfunded maintenance account or by the Immigration Health Surcharge, which alone costs more than twice the visa fee itself.
Here is the full cost breakdown for a 3-year Skilled Worker visa from Kenya in 2026, in Kenyan Shillings.
The Visa Application Fee
For a Skilled Worker visa up to 3 years, the fee is £719 (approximately KES 119,000 at 2026 exchange rates). For a visa granted for more than 3 years, the fee rises to £1,420 (approximately KES 235,000). Kenyan banks typically apply a 3–5% markup on the mid-market rate and charge an additional foreign transaction fee on top, which adds KES 3,000–6,000 to the stated equivalent.
Health and Care Worker visa applicants pay a lower visa fee of approximately £284 (around KES 47,000) and are exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge entirely — a saving of over KES 500,000.
The Immigration Health Surcharge: The Biggest Cost
This is the item that surprises nearly every Kenyan applicant. The IHS is charged at £1,035 per year and must be paid upfront for the full duration of the visa before the application is submitted. For a 3-year visa, that is £3,105 — approximately KES 515,000 at current rates.
The IHS covers access to NHS services during your stay and cannot be waived unless you are applying under the Health and Care Worker route. For most skilled workers — IT professionals, engineers, teachers — this fee applies in full and must be paid at the point of online application, not at the biometric appointment.
Pre-Application Kenya-Side Costs
Before you even submit the online form, you have spent money in Kenya:
| Item | Cost (KES) |
|---|---|
| IOM TB test, Nairobi | 8,000 |
| DCI Certificate of Good Conduct | 1,050 |
| Kenyan e-passport (if renewal needed) | 7,550–12,050 |
| IELTS for UKVI (if required) | 25,000–30,000 |
| UK ENIC (Ecctis) statement | 38,000–42,000 |
| KNEC certificate verification | 3,480 |
| CUE degree recognition | 6,000 |
IELTS and UK ENIC are only required if you cannot prove English proficiency through an exempt degree. If your Kenyan university degree was taught in English and qualifies for UK ENIC recognition, you may be able to skip IELTS — but the Ecctis statement itself still costs approximately £252 (around KES 42,000).
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Maintenance Funds: Money You Must Hold, Not Spend
The Home Office requires you to show £1,270 (approximately KES 210,000) held in a bank account for 28 consecutive days before the application date. This is not a fee you pay — it is money that must sit in a regulated Kenyan bank account (KCB, Equity, Co-op, NCBA, Standard Chartered, or Absa). M-Pesa statements are not accepted.
The common mistake is treating this as a minor requirement. If the balance drops below £1,270 for even one day during the 28-day window, the application is refused. Many applicants take short-term loans to meet this threshold, then have the application refused because the Home Office flags the sudden large deposit as non-genuine funds.
VFS Optional Services
VFS Global Nairobi charges for optional services that many applicants end up needing:
| VFS Service | Cost (KES) |
|---|---|
| Standard biometric appointment | Included |
| Prime Time appointment (early/late slots) | 12,000 |
| Keep My Passport service (retain document during processing) | 10,000 |
| Priority processing (5 working days) | ~90,000 |
| Super Priority (24 hours) | ~180,000 |
Total Cost Summary
For a standard 3-year Skilled Worker visa application from Kenya, the minimum liquid capital required is:
| Component | KES |
|---|---|
| Visa fee (up to 3 years) | 119,000 |
| IHS (3 years) | 515,000 |
| IOM TB test | 8,000 |
| DCI Good Conduct | 1,050 |
| IELTS or UK ENIC | 30,000–42,000 |
| Maintenance funds (held, not spent) | 210,000 |
| Estimated total | ~883,000–895,000 |
For Health and Care Worker visa applicants, the IHS is waived and the visa fee is lower, reducing the total to approximately KES 350,000 including the maintenance buffer.
The Kenya to UK Skilled Worker Guide includes a payment sequencing timeline — which fees to pay first, which bank accounts to use for the IHS payment to avoid excessive foreign transaction charges, and how to structure your maintenance funds to pass the 28-day audit.
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