Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether this Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of proposed increases to the immigration health surcharge on the well-being of migrant workers in the NHS.

Migrants applying to work in the NHS on the basis of the Health and Care Worker visa are exempt from paying the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS).

Migrants applying on other immigration routes are required to pay the IHS as part of their application. Migrants employed in the NHS on visas other than the Health and Care Worker visa are able to claim reimbursement of the IHS paid for periods employed in the health and social care sectors.

The Home Office undertook an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) and an Impact Assessment (IA) alongside the IHS increase. These have been published and can be found at the links below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-health-surcharge-ihs-equality-impact-assessment-2023/immigration-health-surcharge-equality-impact-assessment-2023-accessible

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/55/impacts.