Immigration Health Surcharge Increases – Apply now if your visa is expiring in the next three months
If you haven’t read about the Home Office increase in the Immigration health surcharge then read on as this blog will be of relevance and interest to you if your UK visa is due to expire in the next three months. Immigration solicitors say that on the 1 October 2020 the Immigration health surcharge will increase by £124 per visa applicant per year. That increase can add up to a lot of money if you are extending your visa for a number of years or you are in the UK with your family and need to apply to extend your visa as well as apply to extend dependant visas for family members. The answer is to act now.
UK Immigration solicitors
Whatever the nature of your immigration law query or visa application our specialist immigration lawyers can help you. If you want to avoid paying the increased Immigration health surcharge fee our Immigration experts can assess your visa options and ensure that your visa application is submitted before the 1 October 2020.
For specialist, friendly immigration law advice call OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or complete our online enquiry form. Appointments are available by video conferencing, Skype or by telephone. Our expert immigration solicitors are here to take your call and answer your Immigration questions.
The Immigration health surcharge
The Immigration health surcharge will increase from £400 per year to £624 per year from the 1 October 2020.
The Immigration health surcharge is an upfront cost that visa applicants have to pay to cover the cost of National Health Service treatment. If your visa is of less than six months duration then you don’t need to pay the Immigration health surcharge.
Importantly, and frustratingly for visa applicants with private health insurance, the Immigration health surcharge is payable even if an applicant for a visa has their own private health insurance that is a premium cover that will pay for the cost of any medical treatment in the UK . In addition, the Immigration health surcharge isn’t refundable if you don’t need to use the National Health Service whilst you are in the UK on your visa.
However, the matter about the Immigration health surcharge that annoys most visa applicants the most is that the Immigration health surcharge is payable up front. That means that if you are applying for a three year UK visa then after the 1 October 2020 you will need to find £1,872 in Immigration health surcharge fees. You will appreciate that if you have dependant family members on dependant visas then the Immigration health surcharge can amount to a large amount of money to find in one go.
For those of you looking to save money, if your visa is due to expire in the next three months, you have the option of rather than waiting until just before the expiry date you can apply to renew your visa prior to the 1 October 2020. If you are applying for a two year visa extension then the savings in Immigration health surcharge fees will be £248. The savings will be a lot more if you are applying for a longer visa extension or you have dependant family on dependant visas who also need visa extensions.
The advice from immigration solicitors is therefore to act now and save on Immigration health surcharge fees if you are intending to submit a visa application or visa extension application within the next three months. An immigration solicitor can go through your Immigration visa application or extension application to make sure that you have all the correct paperwork in support of your application to ensure it stands the best prospects of being approved by the Home Office.
UK Immigration solicitors
If you want to beat the Immigration health surcharge increase , coming into effect on the 1 October 2020, and your visa is due to expire in the next three months then let the immigration law team at OTS Solicitors help you with your visa extension application.
Whatever the nature of your Immigration law query or visa application our specialist immigration lawyers can help you. For expert, friendly Immigration law advice call OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or complete our online enquiry form. Appointments are available by video conferencing, Skype or by telephone. Our expert immigration solicitors are here to take your call and answer your Immigration questions.