Immigration Healthcare Surcharge

If you are applying for immigration permission (visa) for more than six months you must pay an additional fee to entitle you to access healthcare through the National Health Service; Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). You will need to pay £776 for each year of leave you apply for and an extra £338 for any period less than 6 months. Any dependants applying with you will need to pay the same amount.

You can confirm the current rates for the IHS online.

The calculation for IHS is based on the length of the visa you will be granted and not just the length of your course or the additional period you might be adding on to an existing visa.

You are required by to pay the charge even if you have private medical insurance.

If you are applying to add a placement or move to an integrated masters course then you will likely be charged for some of the same period of time you have already paid for. Unfortunately, there is no way around this as the payment of the IHS is mandatory and this is how the process works. However, you should be eligible for a refund of the overlapping period of IHS coverage provided the overlap in coverage between your two applications is 6 months or more. This refund should be processed automatically within 6 weeks of you obtaining a decision on your new application. If you don't receive a refund after 6 months contact us.

You pay the charge as part of the Student route application process and the form will calculate how much you need to pay based on the start date in your CAS and the length of the visa that will be granted. 

Incorrect IHS calculation

If the form calculates the incorrect amount you may receive an email from UKVI asking you to pay a top-up fee and if you don't pay the top-up fee your Student visa application could be refused so you should check all your email accounts regularly. 

For further information about the immigration health charge visit the UKVI website

IHS Refunds

You are only eligible for an IHS refund if:-

• You paid the IHS twice;
• Your visa application is refused;
• You withdraw your visa application;
• You have apply from the UK and you have paid for a period of over-lapping time.

You will not be eligible for an IHS refund if:-

• You leave the UK before your visa ends e.g. because you are on a leave of absence or resit without attendance period or you are not eligible to submit a new visa application from the UK;
• You are told to leave the UK before your visa expires e.g. your visa is curtailed due to completing your course earlier than expected.

Immigration Health Surcharge Refund for EU/EEA/Swiss students

You may be entitled to a refund of the Immigration Health Surcharge paid as part of your visa application if you are a full-time EU student with an EHIC card, your visa has a start date on or after 1 January 2021, and you won't work at all while you are in the UK.

Full details are available on the UKVI website.