Living in the UK 2026: visas, job opportunities and costs
The visa types needed to live in the UK, the salary requirement of the work visa, and average rent and earnings. 2026 figures based on official sources.
A plan to live in the UK rests on three basic matters: the type of visa to apply for, the expected earnings and the cost of rent. This article deals with all three using the figures published by official sources as of 9 October 2026. Because visa fees can change several times in a year, it is advisable to check each figure again on the official page linked before applying.
Which visa is needed to live in the UK?
Whether a visa must be obtained before entering the UK depends on the passport held; the UK publishes a list of visa nationals. The Standard Visitor visa costs £135 and allows a stay of up to 6 months; with this visa one cannot work for an employer in the UK or settle. To live in the UK, one of the long-term visas is needed. The four most frequently applied for visa types are below; all of the requirements are published on the government's visa pages.
| Visa | Who it is for | Application fee | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visitor (Standard Visitor) | Tourism, family visits, business meetings | £135 | Up to 6 months |
| Work (Skilled Worker) | Those with a job offer from an approved employer | £819 (up to 3 years), £1,618 (over 3 years) | Up to 5 years, extendable |
| Student (Student) | Those accepted by a licensed school | £558 | At degree level mostly up to 5 years |
| Founder (Innovator Founder) | Those whose business idea is endorsed by an approved body | £1,357 and a £1,000 endorsement fee to the body | 3 years, extendable |
The fees are for applications made from outside the United Kingdom and are per person. The health surcharge is paid separately for long-term visas.
What does the UK visitor visa allow?
The UK visitor visa is for short-term purposes such as tourism, family visits and business meetings. The single-entry visa fee is £135. Long-term options also exist for frequent travellers: the 2-year visa costs £506, the 5-year visa £903 and the 10-year visa £1,128. On long-term visas too, each visit can last at most 6 months; the validity of the visa does not extend the length of stay. The application can be made at the earliest 3 months before travel, and a decision is mostly made within 3 weeks. The fees are on the visitor visa page.
How is a UK student visa obtained?
For a UK student visa, an unconditional offer from a licensed school and the confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) issued by the school are needed. The application fee is £558; an application from outside the United Kingdom can be made at the earliest 6 months before the course starts. The visa is mostly granted for up to 5 years to students over 18 at degree level, and for up to 2 years for programmes below degree level. Work on a student visa is limited according to the programme and whether it is in or outside term time; self-employment is not permitted. Details are on the student visa page.
Family visas
Family visas for partners and children are a separate heading, and their requirements vary with the applicant's status in the UK. The requirements and fees for each family route are set out on the government's visa pages.
What are the requirements of the UK work visa?
A job offer is needed first for the UK work visa (Skilled Worker). It is a condition that the employer is a sponsor approved by the Home Office, that the job is on the list of eligible occupations, and that the employer issues a certificate of sponsorship in the applicant's name. The salary must be at least £41,700 a year or the going rate for the occupation concerned; whichever is higher applies. National pay scales apply to health and education occupations. Current figures are on the work visa page.
- English: from 8 January 2026, the B2 level is required for first applications.
- Savings: at least £1,270 must be held in the bank account for 28 days; this requirement does not apply if the employer undertakes the cost of the first month.
- Decision time: mostly 3 weeks for applications from outside the United Kingdom.
- The application can be made at the earliest 3 months before the start date of work stated on the certificate of sponsorship.
What is the total cost of a UK work visa?
The application fee for the UK work visa, from outside the United Kingdom, is £819 for up to 3 years and £1,618 for more than 3 years. For extension or switching applications made from within the country, the fee rises to £943 and £1,865. The health surcharge is added to the application fee: for a five-year visa, the total paid by a single person reaches £6,793, made up of the £1,618 application fee and the £5,175 health surcharge. Spouses and children pay the same items separately. All of the items are on the work visa fees page.
How much is the health surcharge on a UK visa?
Those applying for a visa of more than 6 months in the UK pay the Immigration Health Surcharge in addition to the application fee. The surcharge is £1,035 a year; it is applied as £776 for students, those under 18 and Youth Mobility visa holders. The amount is paid in advance for each year of the visa: on a five-year work visa the surcharge alone reaches £5,175, and it is paid separately for each family member.
A person who has paid the health surcharge benefits from the public health service, the NHS, from the day their visa starts. Charges are payable separately for prescriptions, dental treatment and eye tests. No health surcharge is charged on the visitor visa; a visitor cannot benefit from the NHS on this basis. All of the amounts are on the health surcharge page.
Does forming a company in the UK give a right of residence?
No. Forming a limited company in the UK or being a director of a company does not give rise to a visa, residence or right to work. A company can be formed in the UK from abroad and managed remotely; however, a separate visa application is needed to live in the UK.
For those who wish to settle in the UK by building their own business, the official route is the Innovator Founder visa. This visa requires the business idea to be new, innovative, viable and scalable, and endorsed by an approved body after assessment; becoming a partner in a business that is already operating is not sufficient. The visa is granted for 3 years; there are meetings with the endorsing body in the 12th and 24th months. The requirements are on the Innovator Founder page.
What are job opportunities and salaries like in the UK?
The median gross earnings of full-time employees in the UK were £766.60 a week, or £39,039 a year, in April 2025; weekly earnings rose by 5.3 per cent compared with a year earlier. The figures are based on the Office for National Statistics' annual survey of hours and earnings and cover the whole United Kingdom. The £41,700 threshold of the work visa is above this median.
According to the same survey, median weekly earnings are £807.67 in the public sector and £752.28 in the private sector. The sectors in which earnings rose fastest in a year were finance and insurance (10.3 per cent), administrative and support services (8.3 per cent) and information and communication (6.5 per cent). For those looking for work from abroad, the first criterion is the employer's sponsor licence: an employer without a licence cannot issue a certificate of sponsorship for a work visa. The list of licensed employers is published on gov.uk.
What is the minimum wage in the UK?
The statutory minimum wage in the UK is £12.71 an hour for those aged 21 and over from 1 April 2026. The wage is set by the hour and varies with age. The monthly gross equivalent, the net amount and the rates by age are set out, with calculations, in the article on the UK minimum wage.
What deductions are made from pay in the UK?
Income tax and National Insurance contributions are deducted from pay in the UK. In the 2026-27 tax year, earnings up to £12,570 a year are exempt from income tax. Income between £12,571 and £50,270 is taxed at 20 per cent, between £50,271 and £125,140 at 40 per cent, and above that at 45 per cent; the bands are different in Scotland. The bands are published on the income tax page. Countries in which personal income is not taxed are covered in the article on countries with no income tax.
How much are rent and the cost of living in the UK?
Rent is the largest item in the cost of living in the UK. According to the Office for National Statistics, the average monthly private rent in August 2026 was £1,400 across the United Kingdom, an increase of 3.8 per cent in a year. London, at £2,332, is markedly above the average; the North East of England, at £788, has the lowest average in England. The figures are general averages irrespective of the number of rooms and are taken from the ONS monthly rent bulletin.
| Place | Average monthly rent | Annual change |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | £1,400 | 3.8% |
| England | £1,459 | 4.0% |
| London | £2,332 | 3.5% |
| North East England | £788 | 5.8% |
| Scotland | £1,013 | 1.1% |
| Wales | £846 | 4.3% |
The highest average in London is in Kensington and Chelsea (£3,690); the highest average outside London is Oxford (£1,963). The August 2026 figures are provisional and may be revised in later bulletins.
In addition to rent, council tax, energy bills, transport and grocery spending should also be included in the budget. Because these items vary with the city, the council tax band of the property and the size of the household, giving a single monthly figure would be misleading. When preparing a budget, it is advisable to take the rent average of the city being considered from the ONS bulletin, and the council tax amount from the local council's own page.
How much are house prices in the UK?
The average house price across the United Kingdom was £273,000 in July 2026, an increase of 1.4 per cent in a year. The figure is based on the same ONS bulletin and is provisional. The same bulletin gives the average monthly rent as £1,400; together, the two figures form a starting point for deciding between renting and buying a home.
When can permanent residence and citizenship be obtained in the UK?
For indefinite leave to remain in the UK, under the rules in force one must generally have lived 5 years on a work visa, or 3 years on an Innovator Founder visa. Twelve months after indefinite leave to remain is granted, an application for citizenship can be made; the fee for the citizenship application, together with the ceremony fee, is £1,839. The conditions are on the indefinite leave to remain page.
Is it possible to work with a UK company without living in the UK?
Yes. To form a limited company in the UK, the director does not need to live in the UK; formation is completed entirely remotely. People who live outside the UK and sell internationally mostly choose a UK company for its payment infrastructure: Stripe, PayPal, Amazon and Etsy work with a UK company. The account process is covered on the UK bank account page, and notes for those selling online on the e-commerce page.
The UK is not regarded as a suitable country for those looking for a tax advantage: corporation tax is between 19 and 25 per cent, depending on profit. How the rates apply is explained on the UK tax page; a calculation based on your own profit can be made with the corporation tax calculator. If your priority is residence or low tax, Dubai and Northern Cyprus offer different conditions; the three countries can be examined together in the country comparison, and the country suited to your activity can be assessed with the suitability test.
Which countries other than the UK can be considered?
If a plan to live in the UK cannot be realised because of the visa requirements, the other two countries in which Ortac Global operates offer different conditions. A person who forms a company in Dubai can obtain a residence visa through the company; living conditions are covered in the Dubai living guide, and the activity areas that can be set up in the article on business ideas in Dubai. For Northern Cyprus, the guide to living in Northern Cyprus and the article on Northern Cyprus tax advantages can be consulted.
If buying and selling goods through a UK company is planned, a separate registration number is needed for customs procedures; the nature of the number and the method of application are explained in the article on the EORI number. The company's annual obligations are on the UK accounting page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which visa is needed to live in the UK?
A long-term visa is needed to live in the UK: the work visa (Skilled Worker) for those with a job offer, the student visa for those with a place at a school, a family visa for those whose partner or family are in the UK, and the Innovator Founder visa for those with an endorsed business idea. The visitor visa allows a stay of at most 6 months and does not permit settlement.
What is the salary requirement for the UK work visa?
For the UK work visa (Skilled Worker), the salary must be at least £41,700 a year or the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher. National pay scales apply to health and education occupations.
How much is a UK visa?
As of 9 October 2026, the visitor visa is £135, the student visa £558, and the work visa £819 for up to 3 years and £1,618 for longer than 3 years. For long-term visas, the health surcharge of £1,035 a year is paid separately.
How much is the average rent in the UK?
According to the Office for National Statistics, the average monthly private rent in August 2026 was £1,400 across the United Kingdom, £2,332 in London and £788 in the North East of England.
What is the average salary in the UK?
Across the United Kingdom, the median gross earnings of full-time employees in April 2025 were £39,039 a year, or £766.60 a week (ONS). The minimum wage is £12.71 an hour for those aged 21 and over; details are in the article on the minimum wage.
If I form a company in the UK, can I get residence?
No. Forming a company in the UK or becoming a director does not give a right of residence or work. For those who want to settle with their own business, the official route is the Innovator Founder visa. Information on company formation is on the UK page.
In how many years can British citizenship be obtained?
Under the rules in force, one can generally apply for indefinite leave to remain after 5 years on a work visa, and for citizenship 12 months after indefinite leave to remain. The government has announced that it plans to lengthen the residence period; as of 9 October 2026, the exact rule has not been published.
Related serviceForming a company in the UKRemote formation steps and the payment channels compatible with a UK company.View the ServiceVisa fees and requirements are taken from the official pages of the UK government (gov.uk), and rent and earnings figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The information is current as of 9 October 2026.
This article is for general information and does not constitute personal immigration, tax or legal advice. Visa fees and requirements change often; check the current gov.uk page before applying.
