Immigration Health Surcharge

Students applying to study in the UK may be required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) as part of their visa application.

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Who needs to pay

Where you are applying for a visa from outside the UK, you are required to pay the surcharge if you are applying for a visa to study in the UK for more than six months (but you are not applying to remain in the UK permanently).

Where you are applying for a visa from inside the UK, you are required to pay the surcharge if you are making an immigration application for any length of time, including applications for six months or less (but you are not applying to remain in the UK permanently).

You must pay the IHS even if you have private medical insurance.

You do not need to pay the IHS when making an application under the EU Settlement Scheme.

Check if you need to pay the IHS

How much to pay

You and any dependants will be charged £470 per person for each year of visa you are applying for.

The UK Government has announced plans to increase the IHS fee to £776 per person per year of the visa, and the increase will be introduced on 6 February 2024.

How much you pay overall will depend on how much leave you are granted.

  • Where the length of leave granted is six months or less, the amount payable will be half the annual surcharge.
  • Where your application includes part of a year that is for more than six months, the full surcharge will be payable (eg if your length of leave is one year, six months and two days you will have to pay the surcharge for two years).

Calculate your Immigration Health Surcharge

How to pay

  • Where you are applying for your visa online you will need to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) in full during your online visa application.
  • Where you are applying for your visa by post, you will need to pay the surcharge online before you send your application. You must include the IHS reference number on your application.

Pay the Immigration Health Surcharge online

UKVI will contact you if you are required to pay a further surcharge after you submit the application. You must ensure that you make the payment before the deadline that they give you.

Refunds

You’ll get a full immigration health surcharge (IHS) refund if:

  • you paid twice
  • your visa application is refused
  • you withdraw your visa application

You’ll get a partial IHS refund if your visa application is successful, but:

  • you get less time on your visa than you asked for
  • any dependants on your visa application are refused

If you are due a full or partial refund for these reasons, you do not have to do anything to get it. It will be automatically paid to the account or card you paid with.

You will not get a refund if:

  • your visa application is successful, but you do not come to the UK
  • you leave the UK before your visa ends, for example to make a new application
  • you’re told to leave the UK before your visa expires
  • you’re applying for indefinite leave to remain

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