Applying for a 10-year UK Standard Visitor visa from Ghana now costs £1,128 under the Home Office fee schedule that took effect on Wednesday, April 8, 2026.
Several posts circulating this week have quoted outdated 2023 visitor fees, misstated stay limits for overseas domestic workers, and confused paper passport forms with the online process used in West Africa.
For Ghanaians travelling for business, family visits or London's World Travel Market, checking GOV.UK before paying any agent is essential.
UK 10-year Standard Visitor visa: current fees and rules
Under the Home Office immigration and nationality fees table, which took effect on April 8, 2026 and remained unchanged on October 8, 2026, visitor fees rose across all four bands.
The older £963 figure still cited on some blogs has not applied since 2024. The current visitor visa charges are:
- Standard Visitor visa (up to 6 months): £135
- Long-term Standard Visitor visa (2 years): £506
- Long-term Standard Visitor visa (5 years): £903
- Long-term Standard Visitor visa (10 years): £1,128
A 10-year Standard Visitor visa allows multiple entries over a decade for tourism, family visits, business meetings, short courses of up to six months, or private medical treatment.
Each individual stay is capped at a maximum of six months, and border officers can refuse entry if a traveller appears to be living in Britain through frequent or successive visits.
Holders cannot do paid or unpaid work for a UK company or as a self-employed person, claim public funds, or marry without a separate Marriage Visitor visa.
To qualify, applicants must prove they will depart Britain after each trip, can fund their stay and return ticket, and have strong ties—such as employment, business, study or family—in Ghana.
First-time travellers without a track record on shorter UK or Schengen visas may be issued a shorter validity than the 10-year visa they applied for, without a fee refund.
What this means for Ghanaians: Ghanaian citizens are eligible to apply for all four Standard Visitor bands and require a visa before travelling.
Applicants apply and pay online on GOV.UK up to three months before travel, then give fingerprints and a photograph at the UK Visa Application Centre run by VFS Global on the Mezzanine Floor of the Grand Oyeeman Building, South Liberation Link, Airport Commercial Area, Accra.
Overseas Domestic Worker visa: no removal of the 6-month limit for new applicants
Claims that the Home Office has removed a six-year stay cap to let overseas domestic workers remain in Britain indefinitely are not supported by the published Immigration Rules.
A separate Home Office rule change (Statement of Changes HC 584) lifted a six-year stay cap for sponsored T2 Ministers of Religion, not household staff.
Under Appendix Overseas Domestic Worker, any cleaner, chauffeur, cook, nanny or personal carer applying from abroad since April 6, 2012 is granted entry clearance for a maximum of six months (`ODW 8.1`) to accompany a visiting employer.
The visa cannot be extended beyond six months (except under specific rules for confirmed victims of modern slavery or human trafficking) and does not lead to settlement.
Recent Statements of Changes—including HC 1333 in October 2025 and HC 259 in July 2026—only updated cross-references to the Home Office's unified suitability rules (`ODW 2.1` and `DW 15.2`) and did not extend the length of stay.
Only a closed legacy cohort under Appendix Domestic Workers in a Private Household—restricted under rule `DW 9.1` to workers who first entered Britain on this route on or before Thursday, April 5, 2012—can extend permission in 12-month blocks (`DW 6.1`) and apply for settlement after five years.
For a new six-month Overseas Domestic Worker visa, the fee increased on Wednesday, April 8, 2026 from £682 to £726.
Applicants must be at least 19, have worked for the same employer for at least 12 months immediately before applying (`ODW 5.1`), travel alongside an employer visiting the UK for six months or less, and hold a written contract paying at least the UK National Minimum Wage.
What this means for Ghanaians: Qualifying domestic workers in Ghana can apply online on GOV.UK up to three months before travel and submit biometrics at VFS Global in the Grand Oyeeman Building in Accra, but the permit remains strictly a six-month accompaniment visa, not a long-term UK work route.
Applying for a British passport from abroad: forms, fees and the Accra process
HM Passport Office's paper guidance, *Applying for a passport from outside the UK: application form* (known as the OS form), was first published on June 17, 2013 and last updated on Wednesday, April 22, 2026.
Only people who already hold British nationality—such as British citizens, including British-Ghanaian dual nationals, and eligible classes of British nationals abroad—can apply for a British passport.
For current overseas passport charges, consult the official passport fee guidance.
Just as Ghana has tightened rules on its own diplomatic and service passports, HM Passport Office restricts the paper OS form to a small list of countries where online applications are unavailable.
What this means for Ghanaians: British-Ghanaian dual nationals and other British citizens in Ghana are eligible, while Ghanaian citizens without British nationality do not qualify.
Applicants in Accra must apply and pay through the GOV.UK overseas passports portal. They cannot use the paper OS form or apply at the British High Commission.
Supporting documents go by courier to HM Passport Office in the UK. Applicants collect the printed passport in person at VFS Global in Accra's Grand Oyeeman Building.
All UK visa and passport applications in Ghana run solely through GOV.UK and VFS Global (which replaced TLScontact), and readers should use only official channels.
FAQ
What is the official fee for a 10-year UK Standard Visitor visa?
Since April 8, 2026, the Home Office fee has been £1,128. Optional VFS Global services cost extra.
Can a new Overseas Domestic Worker visa holder stay in the UK for six years?
No. Anyone applying from outside the UK under Appendix Overseas Domestic Worker can stay for up to six months with a visiting employer and cannot extend the visa into long-term residence.
Where do applicants in Accra submit UK visa biometrics or collect British passports?
Both services run through the UK Visa Application Centre operated by VFS Global at the Grand Oyeeman Building on South Liberation Link, Airport Commercial Area, Accra, after applying online on GOV.UK.
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