The original report, outlining the plans, mentioned that the surcharge will increase from £200 to £400 per year with changes coming towards the end of the year. The initial plan to double the IHS was revealed in a publication from the department of health and social care back in February 2018. Initially, migrants outside of the EEA applying for more than six months of UK stay had to pay additional fees of £200 per year along with their application. IHS was introduced by the UK government in April 2015 urging migrants to make a fair contribution towards the costs of NHS. for longer than six months to work, study, or join their family in the UK. The charges, paid as part of the immigration application process, apply to all nationals from outside the European Economic Area and Switzerland (EEA) coming to the U.K.
Immigration Health Surcharge or IHS is the UK’s healthcare charge that non-EEA migrants need to pay to use the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). The IHS increase has now come into effect for applications made after 8th January 2019. The UK government has announced that the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) will increase from £200 to £400 a year following their initial announcement of their preliminary plans to increase the charges earlier this year. UPDATE: The IHS fee will increase to £624 starting from October 2020.
