UK Study Visa Fee: Full Cost Breakdown for Nepali Students

UK Study Visa Fee: What It Actually Costs

The UK student visa application itself costs £558. On top of that you pay the Immigration Health Surcharge at £1,035 per year of your course, and — for Nepalese applicants on courses longer than 6 months — a TB test at £65 from a UKVI-approved clinic. None of these three cover your living costs; that is a separate and much larger number called the maintenance requirement, covered below.

What the Visa Fee Covers

Item	Cost
Visa application fee	£558
Immigration Health Surcharge	£1,035 per year of the course
TB test (required for Nepal, courses over 6 months)	£65

The visa fee and the health surcharge are paid together when you submit the online application. The surcharge is charged per year of the course, not as a flat one-off — a two-year course pays two years of surcharge, not one. The TB test is booked separately, at a UKVI-approved clinic, before you apply.

None of these three figures change by university or by city. They are the same whether the offer is from Exeter or Bradford, London or Belfast.

Proof of Funds: The Bigger Number Most Families Miss

The visa fee is small money next to this. UKVI also wants to see the student can support themselves for up to 9 months, no matter how long the course runs, and this amount is in addition to the tuition shown on the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) — not instead of it.

	London	Outside London
Monthly maintenance minimum	£1,483	£1,136
Maximum months counted	9	9
Total required (gov.uk)	£13,347	£10,224

Whether a course counts as "London" for this rule is a Home Office classification tied to the institution's address, not a judgement about how urban the place feels. It is worth £347 a month either way, so confirm which side of the line the named campus falls on before you work anything out — University for the Creative Arts campuses in Epsom and Farnham, for example, sit near London without being classed as London for this purpose.

Dependant maintenance amounts exist (£845/month in London, £680/month outside) but for a taught master's starting on or after 1 January 2024, dependants are not permitted at all — unless the course is a PhD, a research-based higher degree, or government-sponsored and over 6 months. Do not let a family budget for a spouse joining on a standard MSc; it is not allowed.

Documents You Need Alongside the Fee

Paying the fee does not get you a visa by itself. UKVI checks a fixed set of documents against each other:

CAS — issued after the deposit, carries the course, fee and amount already paid.
Bank statements — the maintenance amount must sit in the account for 28 consecutive days, ending within 31 days of the application date.
Academic transcripts and certificates — NEB/+2 or bachelor's, officially translated if needed.
English language evidence — IELTS/PTE/TOEFL as the course requires, or an approved national qualification where the institution accepts one.
TB test certificate — for courses over 6 months.
Passport with sufficient remaining validity.
Sponsor documents if the funds are not in the student's own name — relationship evidence, sponsor's consent letter, sponsor's bank statements.
ATAS certificate — only for some sensitive postgraduate science and engineering subjects.

Common Mistakes That Cause Refusals

The published fee is simple. What actually trips families up is the 28-day rule: money moved into an account the week before applying does not count, because it has not sat there for 28 consecutive days. Build the full 28 days, plus the gap to the application date, into the plan before booking anything.

The second mistake is budgeting to the visa minimum and nothing more. £1,136 a month outside London or £1,483 in London is the figure UKVI checks — it is not necessarily what the student will spend. Rent alone in a city like Manchester Metropolitan University's Manchester or University College Birmingham's Birmingham can take a large share of that before food and transport.

The third mistake is assuming dependants can travel on any master's. They cannot, on a standard taught course. Have that conversation with the family before the CAS deposit is paid, not after.

For tuition fees by university and course, see the UK study hub or run the numbers through the free course and cost matcher. More country guides are on the blog.

Official sources

University of Exeter — https://www.exeter.ac.uk/
Ulster University — https://www.ulster.ac.uk/
Manchester Metropolitan University — https://www.mmu.ac.uk/
University of Bradford — https://www.bradford.ac.uk/
University for the Creative Arts — https://www.uca.ac.uk/
University College Birmingham — https://www.ucb.ac.uk/

Common questions

How much is the UK student visa fee for Nepali applicants?

The visa application fee is £558. On top of that you pay the Immigration Health Surcharge at £1,035 per year of the course, and a TB test at £65 for courses longer than 6 months. These are separate from the maintenance funds you also have to show.

Is the visa fee the same for every UK university?

Yes. The £558 visa fee, the £1,035-per-year health surcharge and the £65 TB test do not change by university or course. What changes by university and city is the maintenance requirement, because it depends on whether the course is classed as London or outside London.

Does the visa fee include living costs?

No. The visa fee, health surcharge and TB test only cover the application itself. Living costs are checked separately through the maintenance requirement — £1,483 a month in London or £1,136 a month outside London, for up to 9 months, in addition to the tuition fee on the CAS.

Can my spouse join me on a UK master's using this visa?

Not on a standard taught master's starting on or after 1 January 2024. Dependants are only permitted for a PhD, a research-based higher degree, or a government-sponsored course over 6 months. Check this before paying any deposit if bringing family is part of the plan.