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Nurses, Midwives, pharmacists, Doctors and other overseas healthcare workers and their dependents coming to work in the UK will not pay the Health Insurance Surcharge when applying for visa from the 4th of August, 2020 Nursesarena.com can confirm.

This was contained in an updated guideline released by the Home Office and available on the agency's website.

According to the guidelines sighted by Nursesarena.com, this good gesture will also apply to their dependents (spouses, biological and legally adopted children).

The new guideline states:

From 4 August 2020, workers eligible for the new Health and Care visa (Tier 2 General) and their dependants will not have to pay the IHS.

You’ll be eligible for this visa if:

1. You’re a qualified doctor, nurse or other health professional (or their dependant)

2. You’re sponsored by the NHS, an organisation providing medical services to the NHS or an organisation providing adult social care

If you’re a health or care worker who would qualify for this visa but paid the IHS on or after 31 March 2020 you will get a refund.


For those who paid on or after 31st of March, 2020 the refund will be processed automatically. The guideline states:

You do not need to do anything to get an immigration health surcharge (IHS) refund - it’s automatically paid to the account or card you paid with.

You’ll get a full refund if all the following are true:

1.You paid the IHS on or after 31 March 2020
you’re a qualified doctor, nurse or other health professional on a Tier 2 visa who would have benefitted from the Health and Care Visa

2. You’re sponsored by the NHS, an organisation providing medical services to the NHS or an organisation providing adult social care

If you meet all these conditions, your dependants are also entitled to the refund.

If you think you should get this refund but have not yet received it, email the IHS refunds team. In your mail, include your:

1. name
2. sponsor’s name
3. Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) number
4. IHS number

Immigration health surcharge refunds
IHSrefunds@homeoffice.gov.uk

If you’re a health or care worker and you cannot get a refund through this scheme, you might be eligible for a different scheme starting in October 2020. Email IHS enquiries if you have questions about this reimbursement scheme.

Immigration health surcharge reimbursement enquiries
IHSEnquiries@dhsc.gov.uk