The Health Service Is Free at the Point of Use Because You Paid for It at the Visa Counter
Access to the National Health Service in England does not turn on nationality, on insurance or on contributions. It turns on ordinary residence, and on a surcharge paid years in advance with the visa application. The Charges to Overseas Visitors Regulations 2015 define an overseas visitor as a person not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, and require an NHS body to charge one for any relevant service unless the Regulations say otherwise. The body must also take the money before treating, except where doing so would prevent or delay an immediately necessary or an urgent service. The exemption most migrants rely on is regulation 10: no charge may be made to a person for whom an immigration health charge has been paid, for the whole period of leave that charge bought. That charge is the Immigration Health Surcharge, set by the Immigration (Health Charge) Order 2015 at an annual amount per year of the maximum leave the application could produce - 1,035 pounds a year for most adults and 776 pounds for students, their dependants, under-18s and the Youth Mobility Scheme since 6 February 2024. A five-year route therefore carries five years of health charge payable up front, and the surcharge is what makes the service free afterwards. Visitors are outside all of this: they pay no surcharge, and regulation 10(3) is explicit that being exempt from the surcharge is not an exemption from being charged for treatment.
At a glance
- Who is charged
- An overseas visitor, meaning a person not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom
Regulation 2 of the Charges to Overseas Visitors Regulations 2015. Nationality is not the test and does not appear in the definition.
- Immigration health charge, standard annual amount
- 1,035 pounds per year
Schedule 1 to the Immigration (Health Charge) Order 2015, row for all other applications in respect of a person aged 18 or over, which prints the figure as a sum in pounds sterling. Substituted with effect from 6 February 2024 by S.I. 2024/55.
- Immigration health charge, reduced annual amount
- 776 pounds per year
Schedule 1 to the Immigration (Health Charge) Order 2015. The reduced rate applies to students, dependants of students, applicants under Appendix Youth Mobility Scheme and applicants aged under 18. Substituted with effect from 6 February 2024 by S.I. 2024/55.
- How many years are charged for
- Every year of the maximum period of leave the application could produce, not the period actually granted
Article 4(3) and 4(4) of the Immigration (Health Charge) Order 2015.
- Part years
- A part year of 6 months or less costs half the annual amount; a part year of more than 6 months costs the whole annual amount
Article 4(6) of the Immigration (Health Charge) Order 2015.
- Applying outside the Immigration Rules
- The annual amount multiplied by 2.5
Article 4(5) of the Immigration (Health Charge) Order 2015. The multiplier applies regardless of how long the leave would be.
- What the charge buys
- No charge may be made for relevant services during the period of leave the immigration health charge was paid for
Regulation 10(2)(a) of the Charges to Overseas Visitors Regulations 2015.
- Payment before treatment
- The NHS body must secure the estimated charge before providing the service, unless that would prevent or delay an immediately necessary or urgent service
Regulation 3(1A) of the Charges to Overseas Visitors Regulations 2015, inserted after the Regulations were made.
- Visitors and the surcharge
- Exempt from paying the surcharge where the leave would be 6 months or less, and chargeable for treatment because of it
Regulation 10(3)(a) of the Charges to Overseas Visitors Regulations 2015: the regulation 10(2) exemption from charges does not apply to a person exempt from the surcharge on that ground.
Requirements
- Pay the immigration health charge with the visa or leave-to-remain application, for every year of the maximum leave the application could produce
- Be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, or hold leave covered by a paid immigration health charge, to avoid being charged for NHS treatment
- Expect to be asked for payment before treatment if neither applies, unless the service is immediately necessary or urgent
- Hold travel or medical insurance if you are coming as a visitor: the surcharge exemption for short leave does not exempt you from NHS charges
In detail
The surcharge is the price of the system, paid before you use it
A reader comparing the United Kingdom with the countries in this corpus that run contributory insurance will look for a monthly premium and find none. The money is taken once, at the application, and it is taken for the whole of the leave the route could give. Article 4(3) is explicit that the count is of the maximum period of leave which could be granted under the relevant paragraph of the Rules, so a five-year route is charged for five years whether or not the applicant wants five. The charge is per applicant and dependants are applicants, so a family of four pays it four times. Against that, regulation 10(2) is unusually complete: for the whole relevant period, no charge may be made or recovered under the Regulations at all.
Exempt from the charge is not the same as exempt from charges
The two exemptions point in opposite directions and share a word. A visitor applying for leave of six months or less does not pay the immigration health surcharge. Regulation 10(3)(a) then takes that exact case out of the regulation 10(2) exemption, so the visitor is an overseas visitor who will be charged for NHS treatment, and under regulation 3(1A) will normally be asked for the money before being treated. The only protection is the carve-out for immediately necessary and urgent services, which stops the money being collected first but does not stop the bill being issued. This is the clearest reason for a visitor to the United Kingdom to hold medical insurance, and it is not visible from any page that lists who is exempt from the surcharge.
What this record covers geographically
These Regulations are made under the National Health Service Act 2006 and carry the extent marker E+W on every provision. The bodies they bind are NHS trusts, NHS foundation trusts and local authorities within the meaning of that Act. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own health services under their own charging rules, and none of those instruments has been read for this record. Nothing here should be read as describing what a hospital in Glasgow or Belfast will charge.
Exceptions by origin
No exceptions recorded
Nothing we have read treats any nationality differently for this topic. The rule above applies to everyone.
What the law says
«“overseas visitor” means a person not ordinarily resident»Ordinary residence, not nationality and not citizenship. A British citizen who has lived abroad for years is an overseas visitor under this definition, and a Nigerian national with indefinite leave who lives in Manchester is not.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
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«having made such enquiries as it is satisfied are reasonable in all the circumstances, including in relation to the state of health of that overseas visitor, determines that the case is not one in which these Regulations provide for no charge to be made.»The obligation to charge is triggered by the body's own determination after enquiry. Quoted from the middle of regulation 3(2): the words before it, naming the relevant body, carry the page's amendment markers.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
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«(1A)Where the condition specified in paragraph (2) is met, before providing a relevant service in respect of an overseas visitor, a relevant body must secure payment for the estimated amount of charges to be made under paragraph (1) for that relevant service unless doing so would prevent or delay the provision of—»Upfront charging. The two things that stop it, listed at (a) and (b) immediately after the quoted words, are an immediately necessary service and an urgent service.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
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«no charge may be made or recovered under these Regulations in respect of any relevant services provided during the relevant period to an overseas visitor in respect of whom— (a)an immigration health charge has been paid; (b)an exemption from paying such an immigration health charge applies, unless paragraph (3) applies;»The exemption that matters to anyone holding a visa. It runs for the relevant period, which regulation 10(1) defines as the period of leave granted in respect of the application the charge was paid on.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
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«paragraph applies where a person is exempt from payment of an immigration health charge under an order made under section 38 of the 2014 Act by virtue of having made an application— (a)for entry clearance where, if granted in accordance with the immigration rules, the entry clearance would have effect on arrival in the United Kingdom as leave to enter for 6 months or less, or where the leave to enter which may be granted pursuant to that entry clearance would be for 6 months or less if granted in accordance with the immigration rules; or»The trap in the scheme. Being exempt from the surcharge because the leave is six months or less does not bring you inside regulation 10(2); it puts you outside it, and you are charged for treatment.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
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«The table in Schedule 1 to this Order provides for the annual amount (“the specified annual amount”) which must be paid in respect of each type of application specified in that table.»The amount is annual and set by application type, not by the person's age alone or by the service used.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
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«Where a person applies for entry clearance under a paragraph of the immigration rules, the person must pay the specified annual amount for each year of the maximum period of leave to enter the United Kingdom which could— (a)have effect upon the person's arrival in the United Kingdom by virtue of provision made under section 3A(3) of the Immigration Act 1971, or (b)be granted pursuant to the entry clearance, if the entry clearance is granted for the maximum period provided for under the immigration rules in respect of that paragraph.»Charged on the maximum leave the route could give, not on the leave actually granted. A route whose maximum is five years is charged five years even where the applicant asks for two.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
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«(5) Where a person applies for entry clearance or leave to remain outside the immigration rules, the person must pay the specified annual amount multiplied by 2.5. (6) Where the maximum period of leave to enter or remain mentioned in paragraph (3) or (4) would be less than a year or would include part of a year, if the part year is— (a)6 months or less, the amount payable for that part is half of the specified annual amount; (b)more than 6 months, the amount payable for that part is the specified annual amount.»Two rules a reader will not guess: an application outside the Rules is charged two and a half times the annual amount, and a part year over six months is charged as a whole year.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
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«| All other applications for entry clearance or leave to remain, made in respect of a person aged 18 years or over at the date of the application. | \[ [F4](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/792/schedule/1#commentary-key-1fa0ef99912a1efd23484d2db4679ad6 "View the commentary text for this item") £1,035\] |»Quoted as the page publishes the table. The square brackets and the F4 marker are legislation.gov.uk's own notation for text substituted by a later instrument, and they are left in rather than tidied out.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
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«Sum in Sch. 1 substituted (6.2.2024) by [The Immigration (Health Charge) (Amendment) Order 2024 (S.I. 2024/55)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2024/55 "The Immigration (Health Charge) (Amendment) Order 2024")»The date the figure took effect. An amount read off a consolidated schedule without this is an amount with no date on it. legislation.gov.uk prints its Textual Amendments as links, and the address is reproduced here rather than stripped, because a tidied quotation is no longer a quotation.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
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«There are currently no known outstanding effects for The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015, Section 3.»The clean form of the publisher's status notice, and worth recording because it is the opposite of what the same site prints on the Finance Act 2013: here it states that nothing is outstanding.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The immigration health charge is set by the Immigration (Health Charge) Order 2015 and was last changed with effect from 6 February 2024 by S.I. 2024/55. Both figures here are read from the consolidated Schedule 1 on legislation.gov.uk on 11 October 2026, which stated there were no known outstanding effects for that Schedule.
No Home Office or NHS agency page about the surcharge has been read for this record, so the question this corpus most wants answered - whether what the department charges in practice matches the Order - is not answered here. The figures given are the instrument's, not the service counter's.
The Charges to Overseas Visitors Regulations 2015 contain a long list of exempt services and exempt persons across regulations 9 and following, of which only regulation 10 has been read. The absence of a route or a category from this record is not evidence it is not exempt.
"Ordinarily resident" is not defined in these Regulations for a person subject to immigration control beyond a reference to the Immigration Act 2014, which has not been read here. A reader relying on ordinary residence rather than on a paid surcharge should treat that term as unresolved in this record.
- consolidatesNational Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015, regulation 2
The National Archives, legislation.gov.uk · consolidated to 2026-10-11
About this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- consolidatesNational Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015, regulation 3
The National Archives, legislation.gov.uk · consolidated to 2026-10-11
About this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- consolidatesNational Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015, regulation 10
The National Archives, legislation.gov.uk · consolidated to 2026-10-11
About this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- consolidatesImmigration (Health Charge) Order 2015, article 4
The National Archives, legislation.gov.uk · consolidated to 2026-10-11
About this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- consolidatesImmigration (Health Charge) Order 2015, Schedule 1
The National Archives, legislation.gov.uk · consolidated to 2026-10-11
About this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source