Rishi Sunak Announces Uk Visa Application Fees Rising And Immigration Health Surcharge

Evening Standard

From 6th February, there will be a 66 per cent rise in the immigration health surcharge (IHS)The fee, jumping from £624 to £1,035 a year for most migrants, is paid in a lump sum by most visa or immigration applicants who are staying in the UK for more than six months.Under the changes, a family of four will pay more than £3,500 a year to use the NHS, despite already contributing to the health service through tax. Charities have warned that the rate rise could push thousands of people into poverty and financial hardship.The rise in the standard rate comes on top of a significant hike in visa fees and other restrictions on migrants. Last October, work and visit fees went up by 15 per cent while family and settlement visas increased by 20 per cent.

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00:00 We're going to increase the charges that we have for migrants who are coming to this country

00:06 when they apply for visas and indeed something called the immigration health surcharge,

00:10 which is the levy that they pay to access the NHS. For migrants who are coming to this country

00:16 legally, they have to pay a fee to access the NHS to contribute to NHS care. I think that's

00:20 entirely right. Neither of these fees have been increased recently and we think it's appropriate

00:25 given the costs for everything have gone up that those fees both for applying for visas and for

00:30 accessing the NHS go up too. That will raise over a billion pounds.

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