The Increase in the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) has been delayed

The near doubling of the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) scheduled to take effect on 16th January has now been postponed while a delegated legislation committee will debate the increase today (10th January 2024).

This means that the earliest that the increase can take place is the 31st of January 2024.

What is the Immigration Health Surcharge?

As we have mentioned in many posts, the IHS is a levy that nearly all migrants to the UK must pay. It is in addition to a fixed visa fee and is calculated by the amount of time that you spend in the UK. The fee is currently £624 per year for each adult and £427 per year per child.

Why is the IHS controversial?

The IHS is supposed to cover the cost to the NHS for migration, however, in addition to the IHS, most migrants to the UK will be paying Tax and National Insurance. If you look at those on a Skilled Worker Visa, most must earn more than £26,200 (expected to increase to ££37,800 later this year) and therefore are already paying more than £1300 in National Insurance payments and over £2700 in Tax. For this reason, it is a double tax on migrants.

in addition to this, IHS must be paid in avance at the time of application, regardless of how long they end up staying in the UK. This can make the initial fees prohibitive for a migrant worker and their family who may end up needing to pay £11k for a family of three upfront.

You can use our calculator to find out how much your visa is expected to cost you: Home Office Fees Calculator