Last checked against official sources on 25 September 2026
QUICK ANSWER
How much does a UK Student visa cost from Pakistan, and how long does it take?
A UK Student visa costs £558 from outside the UK, plus the Immigration Health Surcharge of £776 for each year of the visa, paid upfront. UK Visas and Immigration usually decides within 3 weeks once you have applied and proved your identity, so allow 3–4 months from offer to flight.
Checked on the official sites on 13 October 2026. Fees and times change, so confirm them on the linked page before you pay. Visa centre charges and any consultant's fee are extra.
The UK Student visa is for a course at a university or college that holds a Home Office Student sponsor licence. Your university issues a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS), and everything in the application is checked against it.
Most of the rules are mechanical: the right CAS, the right money held for the right 28 days, English at the right level. A refusal usually means one of those was wrong, or that an officer — often after an interview — was not convinced you are a genuine student. Universities are now judged on how many of their students are refused, so expect them to check you as closely as UKVI does.
Most refusals come down to one of four
01The right CAS
02Money held 28 days
03English at the right level
04A genuine student
GBUnited Kingdom · Student visaFACT SHEET
Visa
Student visa — for a course with a university or college that holds a Student sponsor licence
When to apply
Up to six months before your course starts
Decision
UKVI's published processing time is three weeks from your appointment
Money
Held for 28 consecutive days, ending within 31 days of your application
Family
Only PhD, research-degree and government-sponsored students can bring dependants
After study
Graduate route: two years if you apply by 31 December 2026, 18 months after that, three years for a PhD
Dependants — PhD, research and government-sponsored students only
0/3
Step by step · with timings
How to apply, and how long it takes
In the order it happens. Each stage waits on the one before it, so the date you start decides the date you finish. Ranges, not promises — the mission owns the clock.
START TO FINISH3–4 monthsoffer to flight — more for a September start
1First
Get an offer from a licensed sponsor
Only a university or college on the Home Office register of licensed Student sponsors can issue a CAS. Check the register, and check that the university is still taking students from Pakistan for your intake — some have paused or limited recruitment from Pakistan since late 2025.
22–6 weeks
Pass the university's checks and get your CAS
After you accept the offer and pay any deposit, the university runs its own credibility checks, often with an interview, before it issues the CAS. The CAS lists the documents it relied on, and your visa application must include exactly those.
328 days+
Put the money in place early
The money must sit in the account for 28 consecutive days, and that period must end within 31 days of the day you apply. One day below the required amount breaks the 28 days, so move the money in well before you need it and leave it there.
41–2 weeks
TB test, then apply online
Book the TB test at an approved clinic in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi or Mirpur; the certificate is valid for six months from the x-ray. Then apply on GOV.UK, up to six months before your course starts, and pay the visa fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge.
5One visit
Biometrics and interview
Give your fingerprints and photograph at a visa application centre in Pakistan. UKVI may call you for a credibility interview — expect questions on your course, your university, your funding and your plans, and answer in your own words.
63 wks · plan 3–6
Decision, eVisa and travel
UKVI's published processing time is three weeks. If you are approved you get an eVisa, not a sticker: sign in to your UKVI account and link it to the passport you will travel on. For a course longer than six months you can arrive up to one month before it starts, but not before the start date on your visa.
The official figures are in the quick answer at the top, as checked on 13 October 2026. They change without notice, so each line here says what a cost depends on and where the current figure is published.
Paid with the application
The visa fee
The visa fee is set by the Home Office and published in its fees table on GOV.UK. It changes, so check it the week you apply.
FIGUREGOV.UK
Paid with the application
Immigration Health Surcharge
The Immigration Health Surcharge is paid with the application for each year of the visa, at the student rate on GOV.UK. It is refunded in full if the visa is refused.
FIGUREGOV.UK
Shown, not paid
The money you must hold
The money you must show is the first year's course fees you have not yet paid, plus a monthly amount for living costs for up to nine months — higher in London. The Home Office raises the monthly amount each year, next for applications made from 30 November 2026.
FIGUREGOV.UK
Reduces the total
Fees and deposits already paid
Course fees you have already paid reduce the money you must show, if the CAS records them or you have the university's receipt. So does an accommodation deposit paid to the university, up to a limit.
FIGUREYour CAS
Paid to third parties
Tests and translations
The TB test, English test and translations are paid to the clinic, test centre and translator. A faster decision, where UKVI offers one, costs extra and does not change the outcome.
This is general guidance. Rules change, sometimes without notice, and your case will have specifics this page cannot know about. Check anything decisive on the official pages, or send us your situation and we will tell you where you actually stand.
Read before you apply
Why UK student visa applications are refused
The grounds that come up most on files from Pakistan. Most of them can be dealt with before you submit.
REFUSED
01
The 28 days broke
Money that dipped below the required amount on any day of the 28, or a 28-day period that ended more than 31 days before the application.
02
The wrong account
Money in an account the rules do not accept — an uncle's, a sibling's or a family business account — or in a bank UKVI cannot verify.
03
A parent's account, unsupported
A parent's account without the proof of relationship or the written consent.
04
A weak credibility interview
A credibility interview that goes badly: a student who cannot explain the course, why this university, or how it fits a career in Pakistan.
05
An unexplained gap or step down
A gap in study, a step down in level or a change of field that the application does not explain.
06
Documents that do not match the CAS
Documents that do not match the CAS, or a qualification or English result the university did not actually use.
07
An undeclared refusal or overstay
A previous refusal from any country, or an overstay, left undeclared. That is deception, and it can bring a ban of up to ten years.
Already been refused?
Send us the refusal letter before you do anything else. It states the grounds, and they decide whether applying again is worth it or would just cost you the fee a second time.
Two agents cover WhatsApp between them, so this reaches a person rather than an inbox. The first assessment is free and you get a straight answer, including when that answer is no.
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Assalam-o-Alaikum! I'd like a free assessment.
Service: Study Visa
Destination: United Kingdom
(ref: form-guide-student-visa-uk)
It is set by formula: the first year's course fees you have not yet paid, plus a fixed monthly amount for living costs for up to nine months, higher in London. GOV.UK publishes the monthly figures, and they rise for applications made from 30 November 2026. The total must be held for 28 consecutive days, in your name or a parent's.
Only if you are doing a PhD or other research degree, or you are a government-sponsored student on a course longer than six months. Since January 2024, students on taught master's courses cannot bring dependants, however long the course.
On a degree-level course, up to 20 hours a week in term time and full-time in your university's official vacations; below degree level the limit is 10 hours. You cannot be self-employed, and your fees and living costs must be covered without counting on this income.
The Graduate route gives two years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026, 18 months if you apply from 1 January 2027, and three years after a PhD. Anyone starting a one-year master's now will finish after that date, so plan on 18 months. It needs no job offer, and it cannot be extended.
No. Since 26 March 2026 the UK refuses Student visas to nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, and Pakistan is not on that list. What has changed is that some universities have paused or limited recruitment from Pakistan, because the Home Office now judges them partly on how many of their students are refused. Check that your university is taking students from Pakistan before you pay a deposit.
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