The Short Version
If you hold a visa longer than six months, you've almost certainly paid the Immigration Health Surcharge already — which means NHS care is free at the point of use, on the same footing as any UK resident.
What trips people up isn't cost, it's access: nothing happens until you're registered with a GP practice, and that's the gateway to referrals, prescriptions and the NHS App.
Register with a GP in your first week. It's free, it takes one form, and you don't need the paperwork most people think you need.
The Immigration Health Surcharge
The IHS is paid up front as part of most visa applications covering more than six months. Once it's paid, you use the NHS like a resident.
What You Pay
- • Students, their dependants and Youth Mobility Scheme holders: discounted rate of £776 per person, per year.
- • Everyone else (work, family and most other routes): the higher standard rate per person, per year — including children.
- • Part-years are rounded, and short visas of six months or less are charged pro rata.
- • Rates are set by the Home Office and change without much notice — confirm the figure on gov.uk before you budget.
Some groups are exempt, including health and care worker visa holders. If your visa is refused or shortened, you can claim an IHS refund.
Registering with a GP
Find a practice whose catchment covers your address, then ask to register — in person, by phone, or online via the NHS website.
Your Rights at the Front Desk
- • Registration is free for everyone, whatever your immigration status.
- • You do not legally need proof of address, photo ID, an NHS number or a visa to register. If you're told otherwise, ask for the practice manager.
- • Register every family member at the same time.
- • Download the NHS App once registered — repeat prescriptions, records and appointments all live there.
- • Popular city practices fill up; if one declines, try the next. They must give a reason in writing.
What's Free and What Isn't
Maternity Care Is Never Refused
Prescriptions
- • England: £9.90 per item for 2026/27 — the charge is frozen for this year.
- • Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: free for residents.
- • In England, a Prescription Prepayment Certificate (3-month or 12-month) pays for itself at roughly three items a month.
- • Free in England if you're under 16, 16–18 in full-time education, over 60, pregnant or within 12 months of giving birth, or on qualifying benefits or a medical exemption.
Dentists and Opticians
NHS dentistry in England is charged in three bands (from 1 April 2026):
- • Band 1 — £27.90: examination, diagnosis, X-rays, scale and polish. Urgent care is also £27.90.
- • Band 2 — £76.60: fillings, extractions, root canal work.
- • Band 3 — £332.10: crowns, dentures, bridges.
NHS dental lists are the hardest thing to join in the UK — start looking before you need treatment. Sight tests are free for under-16s, students under 19, over-60s and certain medical or income groups; otherwise a private test is usually £20–£30.
Four Nations, Four Sets of Rules
The NHS is devolved. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each set their own charges and services — prescription charges apply only in England, and dental and eye-care rules differ too. Register where you live, and check the guidance for that nation rather than "the NHS" generally.
Visitors and the GHIC
- • EU/EEA and Swiss visitors can use an EHIC for medically necessary care during a temporary stay, on the same basis as a UK resident.
- • Irish visitors are covered under Common Travel Area arrangements.
- • Cards don't cover planned treatment or repatriation — travel insurance is still essential.
- • Rules for charging overseas visitors were amended again in May 2026; if you're not sure which category you're in, ask the hospital's overseas visitor manager before treatment.
999 and 111
999 for emergencies · 111 for everything urgent but not life-threatening
Both are free from any phone. NHS 111 runs 24/7, gives clinical advice, and can book you directly into an urgent treatment centre or out-of-hours GP slot — usually far faster than sitting in A&E.
- • Urgent treatment centres handle sprains, minor fractures, cuts and infections.
- • Pharmacies can now treat several common conditions and supply some prescription medicines without a GP appointment.
- • Text 999 from a registered phone if you can't speak safely.
Waiting on a GP registration?
Viscacare members get online Doctor access from day one, plus prescriptions where clinically appropriate — across Ireland, the UK and Europe.
UK country profile
NHS access, costs and emergency numbers at a glance.
View full profileArriving in Ireland
Entitlement, Doctor costs, medical cards and the €100 A&E charge.
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