Migrants: Health Services
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to review the application of the Immigration Health Surcharge to dependents of returning UK nationals to ensure parity of treatment with other exempt groups.
Answered by Home Office
Family members joining British citizens are subject to the same Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) framework as other migrants granted time-limited immigration permission. Liability for the IHS is determined by the immigration status of the applicant, not that of their UK-based sponsor. Those who cannot afford the IHS may be eligible for a fee waiver on qualifying family and human rights routes.
The IHS is a statutory immigration charge with a different legal basis and purpose from Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions. While taxes and National Insurance support a wide range of public services and benefits, the IHS is a contribution towards NHS services available during a temporary period of immigration permission. Applications for indefinite leave to remain are exempt from the IHS.
The Health and Care Visa exemption, and the separate DHSC Health and Care reimbursement scheme, support specific health and social care workforce objectives and operate independently of the family immigration routes.
The DHSC Health and Care reimbursement scheme is available only to temporary migrants, and their dependants, who remain subject to immigration control. British citizens and those granted indefinite leave to remain are not subject to immigration control and are therefore not required to pay the IHS. Family members joining British citizens or other settled persons are not treated as having made a dependant visa application for immigration purposes.
In due course, the Government will set out a new family migration policy covering those seeking to bring family members to the UK, including British citizens, settled persons, work route migrants and refugees.
The Government keeps the IHS framework under review.
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