UK visa fees rise from April 8. For Nigerians, every pound increase is amplified.

The UK's Home Office raised visa fees from April 8. Student visa up from £524 to £558. Permanent residency up from £3,029 to £3,226. Naturalisation up from £1,605 to £1,709. The increase is 6 to 7% across most categories. It's the fourth round of hikes since 2023. The October 2023 round was 35%.

Nigeria is one of the UK's largest sources of visa applicants annually. Hundreds of thousands apply each year for student, work, and visit visas. Each percentage increase in pounds is amplified by the naira exchange rate. The fee hike is the same number in sterling. It's a much larger number in the currency most applicants are actually holding.

One category went down. Registering a child as a British citizen drops from £1,214 to £1,000. That reduction is for children who are already in the UK, already British by birth or eligibility. The cost of getting to the UK goes up. The cost of belonging, once you're already there, went fractionally down.

That's not a coincidence. It's a policy signal. The UK wants the children of people already settled. It's adjusting the price of new arrivals.

If you have a UK application in progress, submit before April 8.