The NHS has become paid for foreigners
Half true. GP care, A&E and treatment of most infectious diseases are free to everyone whatever their status. Hospital treatment is chargeable for people who are not ordinarily resident — but that was already the case.
Half right: there is truth in it, but not all of it. What the score means
Where it circulates. Resurfaces whenever visa fees rise or the press writes about hospital debts from overseas patients.
“Has become” is the wrong verb: nothing changed. The rules on charging overseas visitors have been in force for years, and they draw a line between primary care and hospital care.
Free to everyone
Services provided by GPs, school nurses and health visitors fall outside the charging regulations altogether — nobody is billed for them. Anyone can register with a GP and be seen, whatever their immigration status.
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What is charged for
Hospital treatment, for anyone who is not ordinarily resident. Many short-term visitors are charged 150% of the standard NHS tariff. Prescriptions, dentistry and eye tests are charged to residents too, on their own scales and with their own exemptions.
A visa longer than six months: paid up front
The Immigration Health Surcharge is paid with the application, in full, for the whole length of the visa. The standard rate is £1,035 a year; £776 a year for students and their dependants, Youth Mobility visa holders and applicants under 18. Those rates have applied since February 2024. Having paid it, you get hospital treatment on the same basis as an ordinarily resident person — assisted conception aside.
So the accurate version is: seeing a doctor is still free for everyone, hospital treatment for visitors was already chargeable, and long visas pay for it up front. Our health coverage is collected on the NHS page.
What we checked against
True or false?
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