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People and Culture

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  • Home
  • About People and Culture
    • People and Culture Plan
    • Staff Charter
    • Key Contacts
    • New Staff Welcome
  • A-Z
  • Employees
    • HR Hub
    • Pay, Reward and Benefits
    • Learning and Development
    • Development and Career Progression
    • International Staff Support
    • Annual, Family and Other Leave
    • Personal Development Review (PDR)
    • Sickness Absence
    • Employee Experience and Engagement
  • Managers
    • Performance Management Toolkit
    • Sickness Absence
    • Leave Toolkit
    • Induction Toolkit
    • Recruitment and Selection
    • Employee Assistance Programme Manager Support
    • Occupational Health Service
    • Workplace Conduct
    • Job Evaluation
    • Redeployment
    • Leaving Employment
  • Wellbeing at Queen's
    • Healthy Mind
    • Physical Health
    • Home Life
    • Connection and Community
    • Employee Assistance Programme
    • Responding to Staff in Distress and/or Crisis
  • Diversity and Inclusion
    • Equality Legislation
    • Policies, Procedures and Guidance
    • Fair Employment Return Monitoring Data
    • Disability
    • Menopause
    • Fertility Treatment Leave
    • Celebrating Diversity
    • Faith, Religion and Belief
    • Trans Equality
    • Equality Scheme and Action Plan 2024 - 2029
    • Behind the Scenes at Queen's
  • HR HUB
  • Work at Queen's
    • Recruitment and Selection
    • International Staff Support
    • Women at QUB
    • Fellowships at Queen's
    • Pay, Rewards and Benefits
  • Annual, Family and Other Leave
    • Annual Leave
    • Work Life Balance Policies
    • Other Leave
    • Agile Working Toolkit
  • Legal Services
  • Learning and Development
    • Researcher Development
    • Learning for All
    • LinkedIn Learning
    • Leadership and Management Development
    • Essential Learning
    • Career Development Hub
    • Coaching and Mentoring
  • News
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    • Illuminate: Vice-Chancellor's Fellowship Scheme
    • Fellowship Academy
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  • Immigration Health Surcharge

Immigration Health Surcharge

As part of your visa application, you will need to pay a healthcare surcharge (called the ‘Immigration Health Surcharge' or IHS) in order to access the National Health Service (NHS) throughout your stay in the UK.

You usually need to pay the healthcare surcharge if you’re applying for a visa, which is:

  • for more than six months, if you’re applying outside the UK
  • for any length of time, if you’re applying inside the UK

The IHS fee is £1,035 per year (£776 per year for applicants who are under the age of 18 at time of application).

IHS charges are calculated in six-month increments. In other words, if you’re applying from inside the UK for six months or less, you’ll have to pay half the yearly cost. If your visa is for more than a year (wherever you apply from), you’ll have to pay:

  • the yearly cost plus half the yearly cost, if it’s for 18 months or less
  • the cost of two full years, if it’s for more than 18 months but less than two years, etc.

The exact amount you pay depends on the length of the visa you’re given, e.g. if a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) is assigned for exactly 12 months, in practice the grant will include two weeks at the end of the work period and possibly a travel date which is before the work date, that could take you into the next six month period and subject to the fee for one and half years.

When making your visa application online, you will pay the surcharge as part of your application. You will need a credit or debit card for this. You can calculate how much you’ll have to pay before you apply, but you should include any additional time (such as in the example above) for an accurate calculation.

In certain cases, the IHS portal calculates the correct amount of IHS for the main applicant but interprets the same data slightly differently for the dependants, resulting in a further six months’ IHS being charged to them. In those cases where the IHS portal charges the dependants more, they will be entitled to a refund for overpayment after issue of the visa.

  • Refunds

    You’ll be refunded for IHS if:

    • you paid the IHS twice for the same visa application
    • you’re applying to extend or switch your visa in the UK and have paid the IHS twice for the same period (i.e. because you already paid IHS for the same period when you obtained your current visa)*
    • you withdraw your visa application before a decision is made
    • your visa application is refused
    • any dependants on your visa application are refused a visa, you’ll get their IHS back
    • you get less time on your visa than you asked for

    *If you’ve paid twice for the same period and that period is six months or more, you’ll get a partial refund rounded down to the nearest six months. For example, if you’ve paid twice for a 15-month period, you will get a refund for 12 months of IHS. If you have paid twice for the same period of less than six months, you will not get a refund.

    Refunds are processed automatically to the card from which it was paid. If a refund has not arrived within six weeks, you can contact the International Staff Support team about it.

    You will not get a refund if:

    • you withdraw your visa application after your visa is granted
    • 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 applying for indefinite leave to remain
    • you’re told to leave the UK before your visa expires
    • you’re switching to another visa which is exempt from the IHS

    If there’s an ongoing administrative review or appeal process, refunds will be placed on hold until this is concluded.

In This Section
International Staff Support
  • International Staff Support
  • Applicant Information
  • News and Resources
  • Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)
  • Contacts
  • Visa Guidance
  • Global Talent Visa
  • Skilled Worker Visa
  • Government Authorised Exchange visa (Temporary Work)
  • Standard Visitor visa (Academic Visitor)
  • Standard Visitor visa (Permitted Paid Engagement)
  • Graduate Visa
  • High Potential Individual (HPI) visa
  • Immigration Health Surcharge
  • Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS)
  • Tuberculosis test
  • Student visa holders switching
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