NHS Surcharge: UK Settlement Visa

[Steps]

I am in the process of paying for my wifes NHS Surcharge for visa applpication. I have filled in the form prior to "PAY NOW" for the surcharge which is stated at £624 per year. The prior form asked where we were applying from and i selected Thailand, However, i am here in the UK doing it. The pay now page is now asking me to pay 83,878.99THB. Converted into £ this is £1965.28. With conversion from my bank i end up paying £1,999.25!!!!!!

 

How do i get back to paying sterling?

[Steps]

Another question: can i cancel this application and create a new one? I think this application has locked me into trying to get me to pay £2000 for NHS surcharge on about a 2.8/2.9 year visa. Absolute scandalous!!

Edited December 12, 2022 by Steps

[freedomnow]

Oh boy, thanks for heads up on that if I ever bring g/f to UK...nightmare.

 

Hope you get it sorted.

[bigyin]

Someone will correct me if I am wrong here but I think they use a conversion rate using US $ for some reason and it always ends up costing more than expected.

[magicroundabout]

When I paid mine a few weeks ago it seemed I could only pay in Baht.....The cost is about right I was just under £2k as well (unfortunately).   You need to pay for the full length of visa 2.5 years hence why its so high!  

[magicroundabout]

5 hours ago, bigyin said:

Someone will correct me if I am wrong here but I think they use a conversion rate using US $ for some reason and it always ends up costing more than expected.

Yes, the Visa fee was always in US Dollars...The NHS Surcharge I'm fairly sure was in £'s before but I could be wrong!  It was all in Baht this time!  

 

[Tony M]

I believe that you pay for full years, so you are paying for 3 years of IHS.  You could ask the UKVI why this is so ? Maybe they have computers that cannot calculate 624 x 2.9 ?  

 

You cannot pay in GBP, unlike paying for a UK passport.  Again, you could ask the UKVI why this is so.  The question has actually been asked many times, but the UKVI response is never convincing. There is a new (additional) complaints procedure (started just a couple of months ago), It is called the "Independent Examiner of Complaints", and is, I believe, the first time that an outside organisation has been able to look at complaints against immigration decisions. It can only be used after you have received a final decision on any complaint to the UKVI, so you would probably need to get a written response from UKVI as to why they won't allow UK sponsors to pay the published visa fee price in GBP without exchange rates from THB or $US. Your complaint would, I think, have to be about "poor service". This is the link :

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/make-a-complaint-to-the-independent-examiner-of-complaints

 

Mods: I've made a new thread about the new complaints procedure, if that is okay.

 

 

Edited December 13, 2022 by Tony M

[thonglorjimmy]

I paid these fees recently and thought I was being clever by using a card from our joint account in the UK, the fee is set by the Goverment in Sterling, the UKVI then publish a figure in USD, and then, supposidly helpfully, charge applicants in Thailand in THB.

 

The amount debited from our UK Bank Account was £1,674, against the statutory fee of £1,538 for a visa application and £2,005 against the statutory fee of £1,872 for the NHS Surcharge.

 

I nice little profit for somebody, and a lesson learned for us.

[Tony M]

2 hours ago, thonglorjimmy said:

I paid these fees recently and thought I was being clever by using a card from our joint account in the UK, the fee is set by the Goverment in Sterling, the UKVI then publish a figure in USD, and then, supposidly helpfully, charge applicants in Thailand in THB.

 

The amount debited from our UK Bank Account was £1,674, against the statutory fee of £1,538 for a visa application and £2,005 against the statutory fee of £1,872 for the NHS Surcharge.

 

I nice little profit for somebody, and a lesson learned for us.

I think that, if you pay with Thai bank card, you just pay the quoted THB fee.  That is still above the the UK GBP published price, I think, but it might be a better deal.

[puchooay]

And, when your partner gets to the UK, get them to work for NHS or in healthcare.

 

You may then apply for partial refunds every 6 months.

[Tony M]

14 minutes ago, puchooay said:

And, when your partner gets to the UK, get them to work for NHS or in healthcare.

 

You may then apply for partial refunds every 6 months.

Why is that, and how does it work ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[puchooay]

31 minutes ago, Tony M said:

Why is that, and how does it work ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's surprisingly easy.

 

Your wife gets a job with NHS or in healthcare, my wife works in a care home for the elderly.

 

After six months; go to this site:https://www.gov.uk/apply-immigration-health-surcharge-refund, upload all payslips, give personal details and wait about 7 to 10 days. You'll get an email confirming or rejecting your application. If accepted, payment will be made. They say withing 6 weeks but my wife's have been paid in about 3 days.

 

Be sure to cover the entire 6 months that she is claiming for in the payslips. One day out and it will be rejected. We didn't know about this scheme until recently but have been able to make 3 successful claims, all backdated. We are now waiting until January to make the next one. Each refund is £200, this based on the old figures of £400 a year, before the rise in fees.

 

It is impossible to get the the full amount refunded. 4 claims would be possible and not 5. This due to the difference in time from visa issue to getting a job.

[Tony M]

5 hours ago, puchooay said:

It's surprisingly easy.

 

Your wife gets a job with NHS or in healthcare, my wife works in a care home for the elderly.

 

After six months; go to this site:https://www.gov.uk/apply-immigration-health-surcharge-refund, upload all payslips, give personal details and wait about 7 to 10 days. You'll get an email confirming or rejecting your application. If accepted, payment will be made. They say withing 6 weeks but my wife's have been paid in about 3 days.

 

Be sure to cover the entire 6 months that she is claiming for in the payslips. One day out and it will be rejected. We didn't know about this scheme until recently but have been able to make 3 successful claims, all backdated. We are now waiting until January to make the next one. Each refund is £200, this based on the old figures of £400 a year, before the rise in fees.

 

It is impossible to get the the full amount refunded. 4 claims would be possible and not 5. This due to the difference in time from visa issue to getting a job.

I wonder why it applies only to NHS and care workers.  Anyone who works pays NI contributions, which go towards NHS care, I think. So visa holders who don't work for NHS, etc have to, effectively, pay twice (the IHS fee and NI contributions).

[puchooay]

15 minutes ago, Tony M said:

I wonder why it applies only to NHS and care workers.  Anyone who works pays NI contributions, which go towards NHS care, I think. So visa holders who don't work for NHS, etc have to, effectively, pay twice (the IHS fee and NI contributions).

Indeed you are correct.

 

I believe the incentive was to attract overseas workers.

 

I have written to the home office, via my MP with his backing, to suggest those working and paying tax and NI should be exempt from paying the IHS.

[Steps]

On 12/13/2022 at 1:06 AM, thonglorjimmy said:

I paid these fees recently and thought I was being clever by using a card from our joint account in the UK, the fee is set by the Goverment in Sterling, the UKVI then publish a figure in USD, and then, supposidly helpfully, charge applicants in Thailand in THB.

 

The amount debited from our UK Bank Account was £1,674, against the statutory fee of £1,538 for a visa application and £2,005 against the statutory fee of £1,872 for the NHS Surcharge.

 

I nice little profit for somebody, and a lesson learned for us.

Absolutely scandalous!! I could not cancel the application (good job now i have read this!!) and was therefore in the process of setting up a new application under a different email address. This is just wrong! The fee is excessive enough, only to hit you again with ridiculous exchange rates.

[Steps]

On 12/13/2022 at 7:18 AM, puchooay said:

And, when your partner gets to the UK, get them to work for NHS or in healthcare.

 

You may then apply for partial refunds every 6 months.

Is it easy for Thai nationals to apply for NHS jobs? Guessing credentials would be required for something like that?

[puchooay]

22 hours ago, Steps said:

Is it easy for Thai nationals to apply for NHS jobs? Guessing credentials would be required for something like that?

Depends what job they apply for. Obviously to be a nurse or Doctor would require qualifications.

To be a health care assistant, driving patient transport, being a porter...etc. All is needed is some on the job training.

[kimamey]

On 12/13/2022 at 5:12 AM, magicroundabout said:

Yes, the Visa fee was always in US Dollars...The NHS Surcharge I'm fairly sure was in £'s before but I could be wrong!  It was all in Baht this time!  

 

I don't know about the NHS surcharge but you're right about visa fees. I doubt it's changed but you could pay in local currency in some countries such as China and India but not Thailand. You couldn't use sterling either. You had to use a credit or debit card and in my case pay a non sterling transaction fee. Complaints were made at the time and the reply from the time James Brokenshire was in charge was that sterling wasn't a recognised currency for this purpose. I assume it's still the same. I wonder what would happen if you had to pay in Euros?

[theoldgit]

@kimameyYou could pay for applications from Thailand in Baht back in the day, I remember needing to obtain draft from a specific bank in Baht, that all changed when you needed to pay online.

 

Applicants from most, if not all, EU countries are charged in Euros.

[puchooay]

Just completed my wife's FLR application.

 

She was given a partial waiver on IHS payment. Didn't apply for one. Just appeared.

 

Anyone else had one?

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by puchooay