Health surcharge refunds after settlement

The Position on Settlement

The immigration health surcharge is paid up front, for the whole length of the permission being applied for. A common question is what happens to the unused part when indefinite leave to remain (settlement) is granted part-way through a visa.

GOV.UK answers it directly. Its refunds page carries a list headed “When you will not get a refund”, and one of the entries on that list is “you’re applying for indefinite leave to remain”. The unused part of a surcharge already paid is not returned on that basis.

The other side of the same coin is that the surcharge is not charged on the settlement application. GOV.UK lists people “applying for indefinite leave to enter or remain” among those who can use the NHS without paying the surcharge, alongside health and care workers eligible for a Health and Care Worker visa and their dependants, people applying to the EU Settlement Scheme, and asylum seekers and people applying for humanitarian protection. One qualification is published: the surcharge is payable if an application for indefinite leave to remain results in a grant of limited leave instead, and it has to be paid before that leave is given.

When a Refund Is Due

GOV.UK sets out a full refund where:

• the surcharge was paid twice for the same visa application;
• the visa application is refused;
• the application is withdrawn before a decision is made.

And a partial refund where the application succeeds but:

• less time is granted on the visa than was asked for;
• a dependant on the application is refused — in which case only that dependant’s surcharge comes back;
• the applicant is extending or switching inside the UK and has paid twice for the same period.

For that last case GOV.UK gives the arithmetic: where the doubled period is 6 months or more, the refund is rounded down to the nearest 6 months, so paying twice for a 15-month period returns 12 months of surcharge. Where the doubled period is less than 6 months, nothing is refunded.

When a Refund Is Not Due

GOV.UK’s list of circumstances with no refund is:

• withdrawing the application after the visa is granted;
• a successful application where the applicant does not come to the UK;
• leaving the UK before the visa ends, for example to make a new application;
• being told to leave the UK before the visa expires;
• applying for indefinite leave to remain;
• switching to another visa which is exempt from the surcharge.

GOV.UK adds that the surcharge is not refunded if a visa applicant dies in the UK or before arriving.

How a Refund That Is Due Is Paid

GOV.UK states: “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 IHS on your behalf, they’ll receive your refund.”

So where a Skilled Worker visa application is refused, or a sponsor paid the surcharge, the money returns to whoever paid it, without an application.

How Long a Refund Takes

GOV.UK says the refund usually arrives within 6 weeks of getting a decision on the visa application. Where an appeal or an administrative review follows a refusal, it takes longer:

• applications made inside the UK: up to 6 weeks after the appeal or administrative review is dismissed;
• applications made outside the UK: up to 6 weeks after the visa application is refused.

GOV.UK adds that the surcharge has to be repaid if the appeal or administrative review succeeds and the visa is then granted. An administrative review costs £80.

The Separate Schemes That Do Have to Be Applied For

Three published schemes sit outside the automatic refunds above, and each has its own application:

• Health and care workers. GOV.UK publishes a reimbursement scheme for people who paid the surcharge and work in health and care. Applications are handled by the NHS Business Services Authority, and GOV.UK says an email follows within 6 weeks saying whether the application has been successful. Eligibility turns on working for an eligible organisation and on eligible hours averaging at least 16 hours a week over a 6-month period. Our guide to settling as a health and care worker covers that route.
• EU and Swiss students with a European Health Insurance Card. Available to full-time students in UK higher education whose visa started on or after 1 January 2021, who hold an in-date card and who do not work and do not plan to work while studying.
• Holders of an S1 certificate registered with the NHS Business Services Authority, whose healthcare is paid for by an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein.

The Published Rates

The rate is £1,035 a year, and £776 a year for students, their dependants, people on the Youth Mobility Scheme, and anyone under 18 at the date of application. Part-years are charged in set steps: more than 6 months but under a year is charged as a full year, up to 18 months as a year and a half, and 18 months to 2 years as 2 years. A visa of 6 months or less costs nothing if the application is made from outside the UK, and half a year (£517.50, or £388 at the lower rate) if it is made inside the UK.

Our guide to UK visa fees sets out the fee table, and our settlement cost breakdown covers the £3,226 settlement fee for each person applying. The current figures are on the GOV.UK healthcare surcharge rates page, and the refund rules on the GOV.UK healthcare surcharge guide.

What Changes After Settlement

Once settlement is granted, no further immigration health surcharge arises, because the surcharge attaches to applications for limited permission. GOV.UK says indefinite leave to remain allows the holder to work, run a business, study, use public services such as healthcare and schools, and apply for public funds and pensions. See our guide to what settlement allows.

GOV.UK says an application for British citizenship usually follows after a minimum of 12 months holding settlement. Our guide to the path from settlement to citizenship sets out that stage, which costs £1,839: £1,709 to apply and a £130 citizenship ceremony fee. Dependants who applied for settlement at the same time are each covered by the same rules; see our guide to settling with dependants.

Questions and answers