# Paying Immigration Healthcare Surcharge (IHS) fee before applying for visa?



## polyphoria (Sep 29, 2020)

Hi everyone,

As many of you will surely know already, the Immigration Healthcare Surcharge (IHS) fee is set to increase quite a bit on 1 October (from 300 GBP to 470 per person per year for the Tier 4 student visa). We won't be able to submit our visa application before then because we need to be able to demonstrate we have had the maintenance funds for more than 28 days, which have only just arrived recently. But would it be possible to pay the IHS fee now, and then complete the visa application later? The reason I am wondering this is this email I received about my visa application expiring, which says:



> Some of our application forms will be replaced on 05 October 2020. We have identified an unfinished application associated with this email address. If you do not submit your application before 23:59 04 October 2020 you will need to start again. *If you have already paid for the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), you will be able to use your IHS reference number on the new application.*


In other words, can we pay the lower fee now, then apply later and use the IHS reference number to avoid paying the increased fee? That's what this sounds like to me, but I haven't been able to find any specific information about how long the IHS reference number is good for, and I was curious if anyone could share any insight.

Thank you all so much!


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## polyphoria (Sep 29, 2020)

*Update: *I actually went ahead and paid my own fee since it sounds like it should be possible. Now my wife is trying to apply, and we are stuck because it's asking for my visa expiry date--which of course I don't have. I don't know what to put here, I guess the requested end date from my application? Any help is enormously appreciated.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Who is applying for what in this application?

Whose visa expiry date is it asking for?


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## polyphoria (Sep 29, 2020)

Crawford said:


> Who is applying for what in this application?
> 
> Whose visa expiry date is it asking for?


My apologies, I copied this over from a different forum and didn't provide enough info.

I'm applying for my Tier 4 student (General) visa. My wife and four kids are set to come with me as well under the same. I paid my IHS and received my reference number, then my wife tried to work through her application to pay her IHS, but on the IHS confirmation page it asks her to provide my visa expiry date (as the primary applicant), which I do not yet have.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

How long are YOU going to be in the UK as a student? Presume you had to put in a time period in order to pay for the IHS.
Presumably your dependents have to have visa to stay in the UK, and to pay for the IHS, for the same period as you?


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## polyphoria (Sep 29, 2020)

Crawford said:


> How long are YOU going to be in the UK as a student? Presume you had to put in a time period in order to pay for the IHS.
> Presumably your dependents have to have visa to stay in the UK, and to pay for the IHS, for the same period as you?


That's right, my wife and kids will be staying for the same duration as my visa. My end date of study was provided from Oxford (11 April 2024) and uploaded to the UK government so I could complete the visa application. What I am unsure of is whether or not my visa expiry date will necessarily be the same as my end of study date, or whether or not I am able to state definitively that my visa expiry date is fixed when it has not yet been assigned. Ideally I would like to be able to complete this portion before the IHS fee goes up significantly, but I'm not sure if I can provide this date of 11 April 2024.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

At this stage it is the only date you have.......

What do you mean by 'provided by Oxford and uploaded to the UK Government' ?


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## polyphoria (Sep 29, 2020)

Crawford said:


> At this stage it is the only date you have.......
> 
> What do you mean by 'provided by Oxford and uploaded to the UK Government' ?


I agree, it seems it is the only date I could possibly provide, only I'm unsure if this will be acceptable. Just curious if anyone has experienced a similar situation.

By that, I simply mean that when Oxford confirms that I am enrolled as a student, they provide the UK government with the information about my period of study as well as my passport, etc., and provide me with a Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) number. I am required to use this number in the course of my application for a Tier 4 student visa to confirm that I have a relationship and a placement with the University. Hope that makes sense!


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

As they authorities ask for dependents to make application the same time as the main applicant, presume one can only put in the end date of the course at this stage.

Hopefully, somewhere along the process all the applications get finalised together and they are all given the same end visa date.


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## Lerana25 (Jan 14, 2021)

polyphoria said:


> I agree, it seems it is the only date I could possibly provide, only I'm unsure if this will be acceptable. Just curious if anyone has experienced a similar situation.
> 
> By that, I simply mean that when Oxford confirms that I am enrolled as a student, they provide the UK government with the information about my period of study as well as my passport, etc., and provide me with a Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) number. I am required to use this number in the course of my application for a Tier 4 student visa to confirm that I have a relationship and a placement with the University. Hope that makes sense!


Dear,

Have exactly the same problem. My husband has global talent visa route and we are trying to apply together but I don't have visa expire date. How did you solve it? Just put an approximate date?


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Lerana25 said:


> Dear,
> 
> Have exactly the same problem. My husband has global talent visa route and we are trying to apply together but I don't have visa expire date. How did you solve it? Just put an approximate date?


Has your husband already received his Global Talent visa or is he yet to apply for it?


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## Lerana25 (Jan 14, 2021)

Crawford said:


> Has your husband already received his Global Talent visa or is he yet to apply for it?


No he is still applying. We apply together


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

polyphoria said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> As many of you will surely know already, the Immigration Healthcare Surcharge (IHS) fee is set to increase quite a bit on 1 October (from 300 GBP to 470 per person per year for the Tier 4 student visa). We won't be able to submit our visa application before then because we need to be able to demonstrate we have had the maintenance funds for more than 28 days, which have only just arrived recently. But would it be possible to pay the IHS fee now, and then complete the visa application later? The reason I am wondering this is this email I received about my visa application expiring, which says:
> 
> ...



If you apply after the IHS service charge increase, it looks like you'll be asked to pay the difference before your visa will be processed.

Read this thread:









IHS Surcharge


I just got stung with an extra payment. I paid the Health surcharge at the end of December before it increased by 50% on January 8th. I submitted my final application on January 10th so retrospectively had to pay an additional £500. Not sure if any one else was in this position? Also, would...




www.expatforum.com


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## gauravsim (Apr 5, 2021)

Lerana25 said:


> No he is still applying. We apply together


How you solved the issue. I am facing the same problem. Many thanks in advance


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## vzaidman (Apr 7, 2021)

Hey all!
Did anybody resolve this issue?

What's the expiry date of the main applicant date, if there's no visa yet, since we apply together?


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## Sil6 (Jul 14, 2021)

gauravsim said:


> How you solved the issue. I am facing the same problem. Many thanks in advance


Hi! How are you? How did you solved this issue? Many thanks


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## vzaidman (Apr 7, 2021)

Hey, it's not legal advice, but in my case, I just added 5 years to the date I asked to enter the UK (Date I asked to enter: 01.08.2021, date I entered: 01.08.2026) and it seems to work.


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