Moving to the UK in 2026: visas, real costs and what has changed

This is how moving to the United Kingdom works as of September 2026: which visas exist, what it actually costs, what changed over the past year and what is coming next. Every figure here comes from an official source, linked at the end. We are not immigration advisers and this is not personal advice — your case may differ from the general rule.

Can you move to the UK without a visa?

No. Citizens of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Moldova need a visa both to enter and to stay. There is no visa-free entry, not even for a few days — unlike the European Union, which Moldovans can enter without one. The ETA travel authorisation you may have read about does not apply to you: it is for nationals who do not need a visa in the first place.

So the only question is what grounds you have. In practice there are four routes people actually move on: work, study, family and talent. A fifth — business — exists but suits very few.

Which visa do you need to work in the UK, and what salary is required?

The main work route is the Skilled Worker visa. The salary must be at least £41,700 a year or the "going rate" for your occupation, whichever is higher. A lower threshold of £33,400 applies in certain cases.

The critical point: you cannot get this visa on your own. You need a UK employer holding a sponsor licence who will issue a Certificate of Sponsorship. Without an employer the route simply does not work.

The second critical point: since 22 July 2025 medium-skilled occupations — those at RQF levels 3 to 5 — have been removed from the list of jobs eligible for sponsorship, with exemptions only where the Migration Advisory Committee recommends them. The reduced list stands until the end of 2026. If your occupation has gone from the list, the route is closed to you even if an employer is willing to pay.

Separately, overseas recruitment of care workers ended on that same date, 22 July 2025. The route that carried the largest number of arrivals from the former Soviet states in recent years is shut.

What level of English do you need for a work visa in 2026?

Since 8 January 2026 the requirement is B2, raised from B1. It applies to new applicants on the Skilled Worker, Scale-up and High Potential Individual routes.

The gap between B1 and B2 is wider than the adjacent letters suggest — roughly a year of study for someone with ordinary school English. Budget time and money for the language early, not in the final month.

How can you move to the UK without a job offer?

The High Potential Individual route is open to graduates of strong overseas universities. No employer is needed. The degree must have been awarded within the last 5 years by a university on the official list, which is drawn from global rankings. UK universities are excluded by definition.

The visa lasts 2 years, or 3 years for PhD holders. There is a caveat people routinely miss: time on an HPI visa does not count towards settlement, and you cannot apply to settle from it. It is a way to arrive and look around, not a way to stay.

The other route without an employer is Global Talent, for recognised figures in science, technology and the arts. It requires endorsement from an approved body, and the bar is high.

What does moving to the UK actually cost?

The number that matters is not the visa fee but the total. The most underestimated item is the health surcharge.

The Immigration Health Surcharge is paid upfront for every year of the visa: £1,035 a year for adults and £776 a year for students and anyone under 18 at the date of application. A family of two adults and one child on a five-year visa pays roughly £14,000 in this surcharge alone — before setting foot in the country.

Add the visa fee, document translation and certification, the English test, travel to a visa application centre, a tenancy deposit (usually five weeks' rent) and the savings you must show. A family move is counted in tens of thousands of pounds, not thousands.

Where do you apply if you are in Russia or Belarus?

Biometrics are enrolled at a visa application centre, and this is the main practical obstacle. Home Office caseworker guidance is explicit: where there is no centre in your location you must choose the nearest available one, and having to travel to a third country, including the expense that involves, is not in itself grounds to be excused from attending.

A mechanism to defer biometrics does exist, with enrolment after arrival in the UK, but it applies in exceptional cases. It should not be treated as the normal path.

The practical conclusion: treat travel to a third country as a fixed part of your budget and plan. Before applying, check with the UKVI commercial partner which centres are operating at that moment — this changes, and any list published in advance can be out of date.

Is it true that settlement now takes 10 years instead of 5?

Not as things stand — it is not yet law. The proposal to extend the baseline qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain from 5 to 10 years has been announced, and the Home Secretary spoke of introducing it "later this year", but there is no confirmed date and the change has not been written into the rules.

This is a case where the difference between "announced" and "in force" is worth several years of your life. Do not decide on the strength of a headline — check whether a change has actually commenced.

What is already scheduled: from 26 March 2027, settlement on certain routes will require English at B2.

What is changing for students and graduates?

The Graduate visa, which lets you stay after a UK degree and look for work, is being cut from 2 years to 18 months from 1 January 2027. It affects new applicants; PhD holders keep 36 months.

If study is your route in, cost the whole chain at once: the degree, then 18 months to find a sponsoring employer, then a Skilled Worker visa paying at least £41,700. Any link can fail.

How do you join a husband, wife or partner?

The family route requires proof of income: £29,000 a year, counted as the couple's combined income. Those who first applied as a partner before 11 April 2024 and are extending that same visa keep the earlier £18,600 threshold.

The visa runs for 2 years and 9 months, then extends by a further 2 years and 6 months. English is required, along with evidence that the relationship is genuine and subsisting.

Where should you start once you have decided?

1. Identify your route honestly. With no employer, no degree from a listed university, no UK partner and no exceptional achievement, there may be no route open right now. That is a legitimate result, not a reason to look for workarounds.
2. Check your occupation against the current list of jobs eligible for sponsorship.
3. Sit the English test at B2 early — it is the longest link in the chain.
4. Cost the whole move, including the health surcharge for every year of the visa.
5. Plan the trip to a visa application centre in a third country.
6. Check gov.uk before you apply. The 2026 rules change several times a year, and the figures in any article, including this one, carry a date.

What does this guide leave out, and why?

We do not list "agencies that help with visas", we do not rate anyone's individual chances, and we do not repeat schemes that promise to get around the requirements. We also do not name specific visa application centres by country: that list changes, and one published today can mislead within a month. Everything that can be verified is linked to its primary source — check it yourself.

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