Student Route (previously Tier 4) applicants who are applying for more than six months leave are subject to an additional charge as part of the application process, known as an immigration health surcharge (IHS).
Paying this charge as part of your application will mean that you are entitled to receive free health services from the National Health Service (NHS) while you are in the UK. The IHS is £776 per year of leave (paid in your local currency if applying overseas). Periods of less than six months are charged at half the annual rate (£388). Periods of leave which are more than six months but are under twelve are charged at the full annual rate.
The application and payment process for the immigration health surcharge is embedded into the visa application form. Applicants will need to pay the IHS in order to complete their application.
How much will I pay?
It is important to remember that you pay for the length of leave granted and not the length of your course. In order to be safe, you should add a month on to the front of your course (as you can enter the UK up to one month before) and then remember to add the additional months granted by UKVI as standard onto the end of a given visa. The additional time will be 2 months for courses between 6 and 12 months in length and 4 months for courses of longer than 12 months. Any 'part months' will be rounded up and charges will be made per 6 month blocks. Some examples are given below:
3 year undergraduate degree starts September and ends June. Cost of IHS will be £2716. Time granted on the visa will actually be August year 1 until October year 3 (as 4 additional months will be added to the visa by UKVI) totalling 3 years and 2 months. IHS charge is 3 years at £776 + 2 months at £388 = £2716
A top up degree starts February and ends August. Cost of IHS will be £778. Time granted on the visa will be January year 1 until October year 1 (as 2 additional months will be added to the visa by UKVI) totalling 10 months. IHS charge is 10 months at £778.
Masters degree starts September year 1 and ends September year 2. Cost of IHS will be £1164. Time granted on the visa will be August year 1 until January year 3 (as 4 additional months will be added to the visa by UKVI) totalling 1 year and 5 months. IHS charge is 1 year at £776 + 5 months at £388 = £1164
For further information, please download this information sheet and/or visit the following pages on the UKCISA website:
If your visa application is rejected or refused the immigration health charge will be refunded by UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) via their own refund processes.