IHS fee increasing

The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) is a charge that has to be paid by many visa applicants in addition to the visa application fee, but those in some categories (eg visitors, refugees, EEA nationals, settlement applicants) do not have to pay it. The money goes towards the National Health Service, and is justified by the idea that migrants should pay their way for state healthcare. (Actually, many migrants work for a living and in any case pay taxes towards the NHS but they still have to pay the IHS, so they end up paying twice.)

Anyway, the IHS is currently set at £400 per year for most visa applicants so if you are, for example, applying for a three-year visa the surcharge is £1,200. Some categories of applicant, eg students, pay a lower rate of £300 per year.

On 27 October 2020 the IHS rates are increasing. The standard rate will increase to £624 per year, which constitutes a healthy increase of 56%. However, students and those in a few other categories will only have to pay £470.

So this tells us that if you submit your visa application before 27 October you are going to save yourself some money: for most applicants a three-year visa will cost £672 less.

It is important to remember that the “date of application” is the date that the online visa application is submitted, so as long as the online application is submitted on any date before the 27^th the lower rate will apply.

If you want to submit your visa application in a hurry we may be able to help you.