The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) is the NHS access charge on a UK visa — usually £1,035 per year for each person applying, paid to the Home Office up front for the whole length of the visa.
Source: GOV.UK — Global Talent visa and GOV.UK — healthcare in your immigration application. Rate verified 6 July 2026.
What is the Immigration Health Surcharge?
The Immigration Health Surcharge gives you access to the National Health Service for the time you hold your visa. GOV.UK describes it as "usually £1,035 per year for each person applying". It is not optional and not a private insurance premium: while you are on the Global Talent Visa and paying the IHS, you use the NHS on broadly the same basis as a resident. It is collected by the Home Office at the visa stage.
What does the IHS require you to pay?
One up-front payment covering every year of the visa. Because it is charged per year, the length of the grant drives the total: at £1,035 per year, a full five-year visa carries £5,175 of IHS for a single adult, and a shorter grant costs proportionally less. The IHS sits on top of the two application fees — the £561 endorsement fee and the £205 visa fee.
What are the common mistakes about the IHS?
The most common is budgeting for the fees but forgetting the surcharge — usually the largest single cost of the application. A second is assuming the IHS is bundled into the endorsement or visa fee: it is a separate charge. A third is forgetting that each dependant pays their own IHS as well as their own application fee, so a family multiplies the surcharge. And rates change, so relying on old forum figures rather than the current GOV.UK amount is a mistake in itself.
How does the IHS fit the wider application?
It lands at the very end, at the visa stage, after the endorsement has been decided. The Global Talent Visa is a two-part route: first the Tech Nation Digital Technology endorsement, then the visa application where the surcharge is paid. The endorsement is the hard part and where applications most often fail — so you commit the £561 endorsement fee first, and the far larger surcharge only once your endorsement is secured.
How does the £200 Fit Assessment help?
Because the IHS is only payable once the Tech Nation endorsement is granted, the sensible order is to test the endorsement case first. The £200 Fit Assessment gives you a written, scored go or no-go verdict plus a 45-minute review call, so you commit the large sums with your eyes open. It is credited to any package you go on to buy.
Get your £200 Fit Assessment →incl. 45-minute review call
Frequently asked questions
The IHS is the charge for NHS access while you hold a UK visa, including the Global Talent Visa. GOV.UK states it is usually £1,035 per year for each person applying, paid up front for the whole length of the visa. Verify the current rate on GOV.UK.
Usually £1,035 per year for each person applying — £5,175 per adult over a five-year grant. A shorter grant costs proportionally less, because it is charged per year. Verify the current rate on GOV.UK.
Yes. It is paid in full when you submit your visa application to the Home Office, covering the whole length of the visa in one payment — £5,175 for a single adult over five years at £1,035 per year. Verify the current amount on GOV.UK.
Yes. Each dependant (a partner or child) pays their own IHS plus their own application fee. It is charged per person applying, so a family multiplies the surcharge. Verify current dependant rates on GOV.UK.
No. The IHS is separate from both the £561 Tech Nation endorsement fee and the £205 visa fee, and is usually the largest single line item in the application. Verify all current amounts on GOV.UK.
Related reading: the full cost breakdown, true cost for your family, endorsement criteria, who qualifies and the pain-points hub.
Last updated: 6 July 2026. Figures verified against GOV.UK on 6 July 2026.