Refunds of the health surcharge

What the surcharge costs, so you know what a refund is worth

GOV.UK publishes three rates for the immigration health surcharge:

• £776 a year for students, their dependants, and people on a Youth Mobility Scheme visa
• £776 a year for anyone under the age of 18 at the time of application
• £1,035 a year for all other visa and immigration applications

You pay it up front for the whole length of the visa, which is why a refund can be a large amount. The rates are at GOV.UK, pay for UK healthcare as part of your immigration application, and our immigration health surcharge guide explains who pays it.

When you get a full refund

GOV.UK lists three grounds:

• you paid the surcharge twice for the same visa application
• your visa application is refused
• you withdraw your visa application before a decision is made

When you get a partial refund

These apply where the application itself succeeded. GOV.UK lists three:

• you get less time on your visa than you asked for — the surcharge for the time you did not get comes back
• a dependant on your application is refused a visa — you get their surcharge back, not yours
• you are extending or switching your visa in the UK and have paid the surcharge twice for the same period

For that last one there is a rounding rule worth knowing. GOV.UK says that if you have paid twice for the same period and that period is 6 months or more, the refund is rounded down to the nearest 6 months — its example is a 15 month overlap producing a refund for 12 months. If the double-paid period is under 6 months, there is no refund at all.

When you do not get a refund

This list is as important as the other two, because it contains the case people most often expect to be refunded. GOV.UK says you will not get a refund if:

• you withdraw your visa application after the visa is granted
• your 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 are told to leave the UK before your visa expires
• you are applying for indefinite leave to remain (settlement)
• you are switching to another visa that is exempt from the surcharge

GOV.UK also says the surcharge is not refunded if a visa applicant dies in the UK or before arriving. See our surcharge refunds on a spouse visa for how these rules land on the family routes.

You do not usually have to ask

For every ground above, GOV.UK is clear: "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 paid to the account or card you paid with." If someone else paid the surcharge on your behalf, they receive the refund.

That is different from the priority or super priority fee, which is a separate payment for a faster decision. GOV.UK says a refund of that fee "will not always be paid automatically — you may need to ask for a refund", and that it is not refunded at all if your application is refused. If you paid VFS Global directly you request it in your VFS Global account; if you paid TLScontact at your appointment you email the Home Office priority services refund requests team.

The refunds page is at GOV.UK, immigration health surcharge refunds, and the priority fee rules at GOV.UK, getting a refund of your priority fee.

Refunds you do have to claim

If you work in health or care

GOV.UK says you and your dependants may be able to get the surcharge back if you work in health or care, with two conditions attached: the refund only covers periods you worked in health or care for 6 months or more, and you only get a refund for dependants whose visa covers the same period as yours.

The route depends on your visa. If you hold a Tier 2 (General) visa and work in one of the listed medical professions — the list runs from biological scientist and doctor to nurse, paramedic, physiotherapist, social worker and speech and language therapist — GOV.UK says you are eligible and need to apply. You get a full refund if you paid on or after 31 March 2020, and a partial one for periods after that date if you paid before it. On another visa, or in another health or care role, you may be able to apply.

To claim, contact UK Visas and Immigration with the surcharge reference numbers for you and any dependants. Details are at GOV.UK, get a refund if you work in health and care, and our health and care sponsorship guide covers the route itself.

If your healthcare is paid for by another European country

GOV.UK publishes two further claims. If you hold an S1 certificate registered with the NHS Business Services Authority, you may get a full or partial refund. And a full-time student in UK higher education whose visa started on or after 1 January 2021, who holds a European Health Insurance Card issued in a European Union country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, and who does not work and does not plan to while studying, can apply for a refund covering periods from the date GOV.UK gives for the country that issued the card.

How long it takes

GOV.UK says you usually get your refund within 6 weeks of getting a decision on your visa application, and that it can take longer if you appeal or ask for an administrative review after a refusal. It goes back to the account or card the surcharge was paid from.

If it has not arrived, the reference number from the payment confirmation email is the thing to have to hand before you contact the Home Office.

Related guides:

• Immigration Health Surcharge
• Surcharge and the spouse visa
• UK Visa Fees: Complete Guide
• Visa refused: what to do

Questions and answers