TL;DR
- The 2026 Immigration Health Surcharge rate is GBP 1,035 a year for adult applicants and GBP 776 a year for under-18s and full-time students, unchanged since the 6 October 2023 fee rise from GBP 624.
- Refunds are issued in three narrow circumstances: visa refusal, application withdrawn before decision, and overpayment recovered by the Home Office.
- Refunds are processed automatically to the original payment card without a separate claim form, typically inside six weeks.
- The IHS is paid up-front for the full grant period, so an FLR(M) extension of 2 years and 6 months attracts GBP 2,587 per adult in IHS at the 2026 rate.
- Pro-rata refunds are issued by the Home Office where an application is granted for a shorter period than the IHS was paid for, for example where the passport expiry date forces a curtailed grant.
The 2026 GBP 1,035 adult rate and how it is calculated
The Immigration Health Surcharge is the up-front contribution that most visa applicants pay toward the cost of NHS treatment during the period of their leave. The 2026 adult rate is GBP 1,035 a year, multiplied by the number of years of leave being applied for. A 2.5-year FLR(M) extension attracts 2.5 lots of GBP 1,035, so GBP 2,587 per adult. A 5-year Skilled Worker grant attracts 5 lots of GBP 1,035, so GBP 5,175 per adult, paid before the visa is decided. Children under 18, full-time students and Youth Mobility Scheme applicants pay the reduced rate of GBP 776 a year.
The 2023 fee rise from GBP 624 to GBP 1,035 was laid before Parliament in autumn 2023 and took effect on 6 October 2023. That 66% increase remains the most recent IHS change in 2026, and the rate has held through both the May 2024 and the projected 2026 Statements of Changes.
The three refund triggers
The Home Office refunds the IHS in three specific circumstances. The first is visa refusal: if the application is refused, the full IHS paid is returned to the original payment card. The Home Office's position is that the surcharge is a contribution toward an NHS entitlement that arises only with a grant of leave, so a refusal extinguishes the entitlement and the money is returned.
The second is withdrawal before decision. An applicant who withdraws an application before a caseworker has made a decision recovers the IHS in full. Withdrawal after a decision has been made does not trigger a refund, because the entitlement has by then been generated.
The third is overpayment. If the GOV.UK fee calculator or the manual entry of years results in an IHS line that exceeds the correct amount for the period of leave finally granted, the Home Office returns the excess. The most common scenario is a passport that expires sooner than the visa would otherwise be granted, causing the grant to be curtailed to align with the passport: the IHS difference between the requested period and the actual period is refunded.
How the refund reaches the applicant
An IHS refund is processed automatically through the Home Office's payment system to the card the IHS was originally paid on. There is no separate claim form, no online portal to request the refund, and no GOV.UK page to fill out. The trigger event (refusal, withdrawal, or grant of curtailed leave) initiates the refund inside the back-office system.
The typical timeline is six weeks from the trigger event to the credit landing on the card. Faster refunds happen, particularly on a clean refusal where there is no curtailment calculation to run. Slower refunds occasionally exceed eight weeks, especially where the card used to pay has since been cancelled or has expired, in which case the Home Office issues the refund by bank transfer after contacting the applicant.
What does NOT trigger a refund
Several scenarios that applicants assume should trigger a refund do not. Leaving the UK before the end of the granted leave does not trigger a refund: the IHS paid is for the entitlement to NHS access, not for actual NHS use, and exiting voluntarily does not extinguish the entitlement. Likewise, an applicant who is granted leave but never enters the UK does not recover the IHS, because the leave to enter has been generated. Switching to a different visa category mid-grant does not trigger a refund: any unused entitlement is offset against the IHS line of the new application rather than being repaid in cash.
Death of the visa-holder during the grant period does not trigger a refund, although in practice the Home Office has, in published guidance, indicated it will consider an exceptional discretionary refund where bereaved family members request one.
The 6 October 2023 fee rise and the 2026 baseline
The current IHS structure of GBP 1,035 for adults and GBP 776 for reduced-rate categories took effect on 6 October 2023. Prior to that the rate was GBP 624 for adults and GBP 470 for the reduced category, in force since the 2020 rise. The 2026 fee schedule confirms no further rise, and the 2026 figures align with those published on gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application.
For refund purposes the rate that applies is the rate that was paid, not the rate at the date of refund. An applicant who paid GBP 624 a year in September 2023 and whose application was refused in March 2026 receives a refund at the GBP 624 rate, not at the current GBP 1,035 rate.
What this means in practice
Consider an applicant who paid GBP 5,175 in IHS for a 5-year Skilled Worker visa in February 2026, alongside the Home Office fee of GBP 1,031. In April 2026 the application is refused because the certificate of sponsorship was withdrawn by the sponsor. The Home Office processes the refusal and triggers the automatic IHS refund. Around six weeks later, in late May 2026, GBP 5,175 lands on the applicant's original payment card. The Home Office fee of GBP 1,031, by contrast, is not refunded: visa application fees are non-refundable on refusal, only the IHS is.
Pro-rata refunds for curtailed grants
Pro-rata refunds are the second most common scenario after refusals. An applicant who applies for a 30-month FLR(M) extension and pays GBP 2,587 in IHS, but whose passport expires 18 months into the grant period, will be granted leave only to the passport expiry date. The Home Office automatically calculates the difference and refunds the 12 months of IHS that the granted leave does not cover, so GBP 1,035 returns to the original card.
Pro-rata refunds also occur where an applicant on a 5-year Skilled Worker visa transitions to indefinite leave to remain mid-grant: the unused IHS years on the limited leave are returned.
When to escalate a missing refund
If the refund has not arrived eight weeks after the trigger event, contacting UKVI through gov.uk/contact-ukvi-inside-uk or gov.uk/contact-ukvi-outside-uk is the appropriate next step. The Home Office's case-working teams have a dedicated finance route for IHS refunds, and a written enquiry typically resolves within a further two to four weeks. Where the refund cannot be processed to the original card (cancelled, expired, or fraud-flagged), the Home Office contacts the applicant to capture bank transfer details.
Refunds that remain outstanding beyond 12 weeks merit a complaint through the published Home Office complaints procedure, escalated if necessary through a Member of Parliament. The MP route is not available for visa decision-making, but is appropriate for administrative delay.
Reduced-rate categories: GBP 776 in 2026
The reduced rate of GBP 776 a year applies to four defined categories: children under 18, full-time students on a Student visa, Youth Mobility Scheme participants, and dependants of applicants in those categories. The reduced rate was set on 6 October 2023 alongside the adult rate rise and has held through 2026. Refunds in reduced-rate categories follow the same three triggers as the adult rate (refusal, withdrawal before decision, overpayment) and the same automatic processing through the original payment card.
A family unit applying together typically sees a mixed IHS line: GBP 1,035 a year for each adult and GBP 776 a year for each child. A refund triggered by refusal returns the full mixed total to the original card.
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How we verified this
The 2026 IHS rates of GBP 1,035 a year for adults and GBP 776 a year for reduced-rate categories were cross-checked against gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application and the refunds sub-page at gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/refunds in May 2026. The 6 October 2023 effective date for the current rate was confirmed against the Statement of Changes laid in 2023 and the accompanying Order. Pro-rata refund mechanics were confirmed in published Home Office guidance accessed via the GOV.UK publications service. Skilled Worker fee figures were confirmed against the Home Office fee schedule. No figure relies on a secondary source.
Disclaimer: The content on this page is for informational and educational purposes only. Kaeltripton.com is an independent UK editorial publisher, not authorised or regulated by the FCA or OISC. Nothing on this page constitutes immigration, legal or visa advice. Always verify with GOV.UK or an OISC-registered adviser before acting. ICO registered ZC135439.
Frequently asked questions
What is the IHS refund amount in 2026?
The refunded amount is whatever the applicant paid, calculated at the rate in force at the date of payment. The 2026 baseline is GBP 1,035 a year for adults and GBP 776 a year for under-18s, full-time students and Youth Mobility Scheme applicants. A clean refusal triggers a full refund of the IHS paid, not a partial one.
Do I need to fill out a form to claim an IHS refund?
No. The refund is automatic. The Home Office processes the refund through the original payment system once the trigger event (refusal, withdrawal before decision, or curtailment of grant) is recorded in the case system. There is no claim form, no portal, and no GOV.UK page for the applicant to fill out.
How long does an IHS refund take to arrive?
Six weeks is the typical timeline. Clean refusals settle faster. Where the original payment card has been cancelled or has expired, the Home Office contacts the applicant for bank transfer details, which extends the timeline. Refunds beyond eight weeks merit a contact-UKVI escalation through gov.uk/contact-ukvi-inside-uk.
Will I get an IHS refund if I leave the UK early?
No. Leaving the UK voluntarily during a grant of leave does not extinguish the NHS entitlement that the IHS pays for, so no refund is issued. Likewise, an applicant granted leave who never enters the UK does not recover the IHS, because the leave to enter has been generated.
Is the visa application fee refunded along with the IHS?
No. The Home Office application fee is non-refundable on refusal. Only the IHS is returned. Where the application is withdrawn before a decision is made, the application fee is also non-refundable beyond the limited 7-day grace period that some routes operate, but the IHS is still refunded in full.
What was the IHS rate before October 2023?
The rate before 6 October 2023 was GBP 624 a year for adults and GBP 470 a year for the reduced category. The 6 October 2023 rise increased adult IHS to GBP 1,035 and the reduced rate to GBP 776, which remain the 2026 rates. Refunds are calculated at the rate paid, not at the current rate.
