Immigration Health Surcharge increase

The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) fee is due to increase from 06 February 2024. The increase will affect all visa routes where the IHS fee is charged, including the Student visa, Graduate visa, and dependant visas.

Payment of the IHS fee allows you to access to the same NHS services that UK residents are allowed to access free of charge. The IHS fee is paid upfront in full at the time you submit your visa application. The charge is calculated depending on the length of visa you are applying for, and is charged for each individual application.

This change will only impact you if you are applying for a visa after the fee increase. If you are intending on making a visa application after the fee increase, you will need to factor in the higher IHS costs when planning for your visa application.

Student visas and dependants

For Student visa applications (including the dependant visa), the fee will increase from £470 per year to £776 per year.

After the IHS fee increases, if you are applying for a three year Student visa, you will pay £2,328 for the IHS fee. If you are applying for a three year Student visa with two dependants, you will pay £6,984 for the IHS fee.

Graduate visa applications and dependants

For Graduate visa applications, the fee will increase from £624 per year to £1035 per year. For Graduate visa dependant children (under the age of 18), the fee will increase from £470 per year to £776 per year.

After the IHS fee increases, if you are applying for a two year Graduate visa, you will pay £2,070 for the IHS fee. If you are applying for a two year Graduate visa with two dependants (one adult and one child under the age of 18), you will pay £5,692.

Expected changes to the Skilled worker salary threshold

The UK government have also recently announced they are planning on increasing the salary threshold for the Skilled worker visa. Under the current rules, applicants applying for the Skilled worker visa need to be paid at least £26,200 to be eligible for this visa. This salary threshold will increase to £38,700 from April 2024.

A statement from the Home Office confirming these changes can be found on the gov.uk web pages. There is also a FAQ document available on the House of Commons Library in relation to the changes.

It is anticipated that most graduates should still be able to meet the lower "new entrant" salary criteria when applying for the Skilled worker visa as it is not expected that this will be changed or removed. This includes when graduates on the Student visa or Graduate visa are applying to switch to the Skilled Worker visa. However, confirmation and more details will be provided once the Home Office have released the information in the Statement of Changes to the Immigration rules.

Graduate visa consultation

The Home Office have also recently commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee to conduct a review of the Graduate visa. The review of the Graduate visa will take time, and no changes have currently been announced. Changes in the near future are also not expected.

In relation to the review, UKCISA are currently gathering evidence on the perceived impact the announcements on the Graduate and Skilled Worker routes will have on current and recent international students. If you would like to provide feedback to UKCISA, please complete the questionnaire on their webpages.