What Is the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) and What It Covers
The immigration health surcharge, usually called the IHS, is a fee most people pay as part of a UK immigration application. If you’re an international student, you’ll normally pay it when you apply for a student visa. It gives you access to the NHS, the UK’s National Health Service, for as long as your immigration permission lasts.
For most Student visa applicants, the IHS is mandatory. If you apply from outside the UK, you’ll normally need to pay it when your visa will be for more than six months. Paying it lets you use NHS hospital treatment while you’re in the UK, but it doesn’t cover every cost. Dental care, prescriptions in England, and eye care may still cost you extra.
In general, the IHS gives you access to:
- GP and primary healthcare
- NHS hospital treatment
- Emergency healthcare
- Specialist NHS treatment when you’re referred
- Other NHS services covered under the normal NHS rules
How Much Is the IHS for Students in 2026-27 (Current Rates)
For the 2026-27 academic year, the IHS for Student visa applicants is £776 per year per person. If you’re looking up the IHS fee UK students are charged, that’s the figure, but it’s an annual rate and not always the final amount you’ll pay.
The amount shown during your application depends on the permission period you’re granted, and a visa can run longer than the course itself. For Student applications, UKVI’s guidance says the calculation uses the course dates recorded on your CAS, so check those dates before you apply.
How the IHS Is Calculated for Your Course Length
The IHS is worked out from the total length of the visa you’re granted, not the length of your course. That includes any extra “wrap-up” time before or after the course, which for degree-level courses is usually a few months.
The IHS fee UK applicants pay is built from these amounts:
- £776 for each full year
- £388 for an additional period of up to 6 months on top of a full year
- £776 for any additional period of more than 6 months but less than a year.
Please note that you do not need to pay the surcharge if you’re applying from outside the UK for a visa of 6 months or less.
For most students, the visa starts one month before the course begins and ends four months after it finishes. This means your IHS usually covers your course length plus five months.
For example, a student applying from outside the UK for a 12-month course would receive an additional five-month period (one month before the course begins and four months after it finishes), totalling 17 months of immigration permission. The applicant would be required to pay the IHS for 18 months during their visa application.
Who Is Exempt or Pays a Reduced IHS Rate
Not everyone pays the IHS. If you’re applying for a student visa of more than six months from outside the UK, expect to pay it. Check the list below to see whether any exemption applies to you.
These groups are exempt:
- Health and Care Worker visa holders and their dependants
- Anyone applying for indefinite leave to enter or remain, since there’s no surcharge at settlement
- Visitors, and stays of six months or less applied for from abroad, including the standard visitor route
- Asylum seekers, people with humanitarian protection, victims of trafficking and slavery, and stateless persons
- Children under 18 taken into care by a local authority
- People covered by the domestic violence concession
- EU Settlement Scheme applicants, Ukraine Extension Scheme applicants and S2 healthcare visitors
- Diplomats, NATO civilian employees, visiting armed forces and armed forces dependants
- Frontier workers holding an S1 certificate, and Falkland Islands British Overseas Territory citizens
There’s also a lower yearly rate. Students, their dependants and applicants under 18 pay £776 a year, while most other visa applicants pay £1,035 a year.
How and When to Pay the IHS During Your Visa Application
You pay the IHS online, as part of your visa application. The health surcharge for UK visa applications is handled through a separate IHS payment portal, which you’re sent to during the application. The portal tells you how much to pay and gives you a unique IHS reference number, which is also emailed to you.
You can pay by debit or credit card. If you’re applying from outside the UK, you’ll pay in your local currency. Have your course dates ready, because you’ll be asked for them. Once the IHS is paid, you go back to your application, finish the form, and pay the visa application fee.
What Happens If You Don't Pay or Pay the Wrong Amount
If you don’t pay the surcharge, or you don’t pay enough, UK Visas and Immigration will email you. The email explains how to pay and goes to the address you gave in your visa application. Check your junk folder if you can’t find it.
Once you get the email, you must pay within:
- 10 working days if you’re inside the UK
- 7 working days if you’re outside the UK
Your visa application will be turned down if you don’t pay the full amount within that time.
IHS Refunds: When You Get Money Back and How to Claim It
Whether you get an IHS refund depends on what happens to your visa application.
You get a full refund if:
- you paid the IHS twice for the same visa application
- your visa application is refused
- you withdraw your visa application before a decision is made
You get a partial refund if your visa is granted but:
- you get less time on your visa than you asked for
- a dependant on your application is refused a visa, in which case you only get their IHS back
- you’re extending or switching your visa in the UK and paid twice for the same period
If you paid twice for the same period and it’s 6 months or more, the partial refund is rounded down to the nearest 6 months. For example, if you paid twice for a 15-month period, you’d get a refund for 12 months of IHS. If you paid twice for a period of less than 6 months, there’s no refund.
How to claim: you don’t have to do anything. A refund you’re due is paid back to the account or card you paid with, and if someone else paid the IHS for you, they receive it. You usually get it within 6 weeks of the decision on your visa application, though it can take longer if you appeal or ask for an administrative review. If it hasn’t arrived after 6 weeks, contact UK Visas and Immigration.
You won’t get a refund if:
- you withdraw your application after your visa is granted
- your visa is granted, but you don’t come to the UK
- you leave the UK before your visa ends, for example to make a new application
- you’re told to leave the UK before your visa expires
- you’re applying for indefinite leave to remain
- you switch to another visa that’s exempt from the IHS
IHS for Dependants Travelling With You
If you’re eligible to bring a partner or child, each dependant normally pays the IHS separately, as part of their own visa application. Whether you can bring a dependant at all depends on your course and visa, so check that before you plan around it.
The yearly rates are:
- £776 per year for students, their dependants and Youth Mobility Scheme visa holders. A 2-year visa, for example, is £1,552.
- £776 per year for anyone under 18 at the time they apply.
- £1,035 per year for all other visa and immigration applications. A 3-year visa, for example, is £3,105.
The £1,035 rate is for other visa types, not for students or their dependants.
Example Total Cost: IHS Plus Visa Fee for Indian Students
If you’re an Indian student applying for a UK Student visa from outside the UK, there are two main immigration costs to plan for:
- Student visa application fee: £558
- Immigration Health Surcharge: £776 per year
The exact IHS depends on the visa period you’re granted, so it’s not always the course length multiplied by £776.
Here’s a worked example. Say you’re doing a one-year master’s, and your visa runs from one month before the course starts to four months after it ends. That’s a 17-month visa, so the IHS is one full year (£776) plus half a year for the extra 5 months (£388).
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Student visa application fee | £558 |
| IHS for a 17-month visa (£776 + £388) | £1,164 |
| Total | £1,722 |
This is only an illustration. Your own total depends on your visa dates, and it doesn’t include tuition or living costs.
Conclusion
The immigration health surcharge is a real part of what it costs to study in the UK, so put it in your budget next to the visa application fee. You pay it upfront while you’re applying, and each dependant who comes with you pays their own. Knowing the numbers early means fewer surprises when it’s time to apply. If you’d like help working out the IHS for your own course dates, our counsellors can go through it with you.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
For 2026-27, it's £776 per year per person for students. What you actually pay depends on the length of the visa you're granted. A 2-year visa, for example, would be £1,552. Part-years are charged at £388 if they're up to 6 months, and at the full £776 if they're longer than that.
Yes. If your visa is refused, you get a full IHS refund. It's paid back automatically to the card or account you paid with, usually within 6 weeks of the decision. It can take longer if you appeal or ask for an administrative review.
No. You won't get a refund if your visa is granted, but you don't come to the UK, or if you leave the UK before your visa ends. The same goes if you withdraw your application after the visa has been granted. Refunds apply to things like a refused visa, an application withdrawn before a decision, or paying twice.
Yes. If you're eligible to bring a partner or child, each dependant normally pays the IHS separately in their own visa application. For a student's dependant, the rate is £776 per year.
The IHS gives you access to NHS healthcare during your visa period, under the normal NHS rules. It doesn't cover everything. Dental care, prescriptions in England and eye care may still cost extra. If you want cover for those costs, or for anything outside the NHS, that's a separate decision, so it's worth asking your university what they recommend.
The official guidance only describes paying the IHS in full, by debit or credit card, during your application, and it doesn't mention instalments. The visa application fee is paid separately, after the IHS. If you don't pay the full IHS amount in time, your application will be turned down.
UK Visas and Immigration will email you to explain how to pay. You then have 10 working days if you're inside the UK, or 7 working days if you're outside it. If the full amount isn't paid in that time, your visa application will be turned down. Check your junk folder in case the email lands there.