🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Healthcare
How the United Kingdom healthcare system works — public vs private care, eligibility, and costs for residents and visitors.
The UK's National Health Service (NHS) provides healthcare that is mostly free at the point of use for residents. Most visa holders staying longer than six months pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) as part of their application, which then entitles them to use the NHS on the same basis as residents (some charges, e.g. prescriptions and dental, still apply).
- The NHS is mostly free at the point of use for ordinarily-resident people.
- Most visa holders staying 6+ months pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) with their application to access the NHS.
- Some services still carry charges (e.g. prescriptions, dental and eye tests in England).
- Holding private insurance does not exempt you from the IHS.
Official authorities
- NHS (nhs.uk)
Official National Health Service information.
- Pay for UK healthcare (IHS) — GOV.UK
Official Immigration Health Surcharge guide.
Official-information aggregation, not legal advice. Always verify on the authority's own site.
Government portals
- UK Government (GOV.UK) — UK's unified government services portal — visas, taxes, driving licences, benefits and more
- UK Visas and Immigration — UK visa applications, Biometric Residence Permits (BRP), and work authorization
- HM Revenue & Customs — Self Assessment tax returns, National Insurance, VAT registration and payment