Schengen Visa Fee from the UK in 2026

How much is a Schengen visa from the UK in 2026?

A Schengen short-stay (type C) visa costs €90 for adults, €45 for children aged 6 to 11, and nothing for children under 6. These amounts have applied since 11 June 2024 and did not change in 2025 or 2026. They are the same whichever of the 29 Schengen countries you apply to.

The fee is per person and per application. A single-entry visa and a multi-year multiple-entry visa cost the same, so there is no saving in asking for a shorter visa. If you are hoping for a longer visa, our guide to the multiple-entry cascade explains how they are granted.

Note: Some official pages still show the old €80 fee, including at least one consulate’s UK page. The €90 figure is the one in force. If a page shows €80, treat it as out of date.

How much is the Schengen visa fee in pounds?

Between about £77 and £81 for an adult, and £39 to £40.50 for a child aged 6 to 11, in October 2026: the fee is set in euros, but UK applicants pay in sterling at a rate each embassy or consulate decides. Missions review their sterling figures periodically, so two countries can charge slightly different amounts for the same €90 fee at the same time.

These are the sterling figures published on official or provider pages and confirmed in October 2026:

Other missions, including France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, publish no sterling figure and convert at the rate in force on the day you pay. Figures change whenever a mission reviews its rate, so check the fee table on the provider’s UK website, or the embassy page for countries that handle applications directly, on the day you book.

How and when you pay also varies:

• At the visa application centre or during online booking - most countries using VFS Global, TLScontact, BLS International or GVCW (Global Visa Center World) collect the visa fee through the centre, usually by debit or credit card.
• On the country’s own portal first - Denmark asks you to apply and pay on its ApplyVisa system before attending VFS Global (see Denmark visa fees), and Norway takes the fee online in UDI’s Application Portal (see Norway visa fees).
• Directly to the mission - Poland (Embassy in London, booked on e-Konsulat; £79 paid on the day, card preferred), Luxembourg (Embassy in London, appointment by email; no sterling figure published) and Romania (Consulates General in London and Manchester, through the e-Viza portal; the sterling amount is set monthly) take applications themselves and set out their own payment rules.

Tip: Assume card payment unless the provider’s page says otherwise, and check whether the visa fee and service charge are taken together or separately. Germany’s missions, for example, take Mastercard or Visa only with the cardholder present, and the Belgian and Swiss checklists rule out American Express. Arriving without an accepted payment method can cost you the appointment.

Is the fee refunded if you are refused?

No. The visa fee pays for the examination of your application, not for a visa. Under the EU Visa Code it is kept whatever the decision, and the provider’s service charge is not returned either.

A refund is due only in narrow cases: when the consulate decides it is not the competent country (for example, you applied to France but your main destination is clearly Italy), or when the application is found inadmissible. If you reapply after a refusal, you pay the full fee again. Our refusal guide explains whether an appeal or a fresh application makes more sense.

This is the strongest financial reason to apply to the right country and submit a complete file first time. Our guide to which country to apply to and the Schengen documents checklist are the two best defences against paying twice.

Who is exempt from the Schengen visa fee?

The Visa Code sets out groups who must not be charged and groups a consulate may choose not to charge. In both cases you need evidence, and the exemption depends on the purpose of the trip, not just on who you are.

Groups who pay no visa fee

• Children under 6.
• School pupils, students, postgraduate students and accompanying teachers travelling for study or educational training, such as a course, a field trip or an exchange organised by the school or university.
• Researchers from outside the EU travelling to carry out scientific research.
• Representatives of non-profit organisations aged 25 or under taking part in seminars, conferences, sports, cultural or educational events organised by non-profit organisations.

Important: A UK university student going on holiday, visiting family or attending a wedding pays the normal €90. To claim the student exemption you need a letter from your institution confirming that the trip is part of your studies or training.

Family members of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens

If you are the spouse, civil partner, child or other qualifying family member of an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen and you are travelling with or joining them in a Schengen country other than their own, you are covered by EU free movement rules. The visa is free and the procedure is simpler, with fewer supporting documents. This does not cover family members of British citizens, who are third-country nationals for EU purposes. Practice differs for family members of the country’s own citizens: Croatia and Bulgaria list them as exempt, while Hungary charges family members of Hungarian citizens the full fee. A provider’s service charge may still apply if you use a visa application centre.

Discretionary waivers and reductions

A consulate may also choose to waive the fee for some other groups, including children aged 6 to 17 and holders of diplomatic and service passports. It can also waive or reduce it in individual cases for cultural, sporting, foreign policy or humanitarian reasons. The clearest UK example is children: Greece and Croatia list all children under 12 as exempt on their UK pages, going beyond the EU rule. Otherwise few missions in the UK apply these discretionary waivers to ordinary tourist or family-visit applications. They are decided case by case, so ask the mission before you pay rather than assuming.

Reduced fees by nationality

Nationals of countries with an EU visa facilitation agreement that is still in force, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus, pay €35. The EU has suspended some agreements, including Russia’s, so those nationals pay the full €90. In the other direction, the Visa Code lets the Council raise the fee to €135 or €180 for nationals of a country it decides is not co-operating on the return of its citizens; children under 12 are not affected. If any of this applies to your nationality, the consulate’s fee table will say so.

What is the VFS, TLScontact, BLS or GVCW service charge?

It is a separate fee paid to the company that runs the visa centre, not to the government. Most Schengen countries do not take applications themselves in the UK. They use a commercial provider, which charges its own service fee on top of the visa fee. This pays for the centre, file handling and biometrics, and it goes to the company, not to the government deciding your visa.

The Visa Code says the service fee should normally be no more than half the standard visa fee, which is €45, and that limit applies whatever reduction or exemption you get on the visa fee itself. Actual charges differ by country and provider and change more often than the visa fee. Figures published on provider pages in October 2026 ranged from £14.85 per application at BLS for Spain and £18 at BLS for Slovakia, through £20 at VFS for Switzerland, to £32.85 at VFS for Portugal and £34.70 at TLScontact for Belgium; GVCW charges €30 for Greece, converted at the daily rate. Each country page’s fees section gives the figure we last confirmed, but check the provider’s live UK fee page before you book. The charge is normally payable per applicant, and it may still apply to a child whose visa fee is waived.

Do you need the optional extras at the visa centre?

Booking an appointment on the official system is free, and every paid extra at the centre is optional. None of them affect the decision or speed up processing.

To give a sense of scale, Premium Lounge is £75 at GVCW for Greece and £100 at BLS for Spain, TLScontact’s Prime Time slot for Belgium costs £79.74, and courier return runs from about £21 at GVCW to £29.99 at BLS for Spain (next-day Special Delivery). Some providers present extras as pre-ticked options during booking or offer them at the counter. Read each screen and decline anything you do not want.

Important: Appointments are booked in your own name on the official provider or embassy system, and that booking is free. Schengen Visa Support does not book, hold or supply appointments. We explain how the official system works and help you complete the booking yourself. Be wary of any website offering to sell you a slot. Our Schengen visa appointment guide explains how booking works with each provider, with city guides for London, Manchester and Edinburgh.

What other costs should you budget for?

Insurance, photos, translations and travel to the centre often cost more than the visa fee itself. Plan for these as well:

• Travel medical insurance with at least €30,000 cover, valid in all Schengen countries for the whole trip. See our travel insurance guide.
• Passport photos meeting the Schengen specification, usually two.
• Certified translations of any documents not in English or the language the consulate accepts.
• Travel to the centre. Some countries take applications only in London, including the Czech Republic, Poland and Luxembourg. Norway, Sweden and Slovakia have no Manchester centre.
• Courier or a second trip to collect your passport.
• UK status evidence. Your eVisa share code is free from GOV.UK. See our eVisa and share code guide.

How much does a family of four pay?

At Hungary’s 2026 sterling rates, a family of two adults and two children aged 8 and 4 pays £200 in visa fees, before service charges. The figures below are for non-EU nationals living in the UK applying for a Hungary visa:

Add the provider’s service charge for each applicant, plus insurance, photos and travel to the centre. For more on applying with children, see our guide to Schengen visas for children, and if your children are on dependant visas, our guide to Schengen visas for dependants.

Will the fee change?

No change is in force or confirmed for 2026. In September 2026 the European Commission opened a consultation on revising the Visa Code, and the options include extra harmonised fees. A legislative proposal is not expected before early 2027, so nothing has been decided. ETIAS, the €20 travel authorisation, is only for visa-exempt travellers such as British citizens and has no launch date. If you need a Schengen visa, you will not also need ETIAS. Our EES and ETIAS guide explains both.

If you want the current fee, service charge and any exemption checked against your file before you pay, see what our admin support includes.