Can I Get NHS Treatment in The UK If My Visa Expires?

If your visa has expired, you can still use some NHS services in England for free, but you may be charged for most hospital treatment unless an exemption applies. Unpaid NHS bills can also affect future immigration applications. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own charging rules, so check locally if you live there.

The Short Answer

• Urgent care is never refused. Treatment that doctors consider immediately necessary or urgent (including all maternity care) must not be withheld or delayed because of your immigration status or inability to pay, although you may be billed afterwards.
• Some services are free for everyone, including A&E, GP services and NHS 111.
• Most hospital treatment becomes chargeable once your permission has expired, unless an exemption applies. Charges are 150% of the NHS tariff, and non-urgent treatment must be paid for upfront.
• If you applied to extend before your visa expired, your permission normally continues while the application is decided, and so does your NHS entitlement.

How NHS Entitlement Works

Free NHS hospital treatment in England is based on being "ordinarily resident" in the UK, meaning living here lawfully and on a properly settled basis. Under the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015, a person who is subject to immigration control cannot be ordinarily resident unless they have indefinite leave to remain, or settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. Everyone else is an "overseas visitor" and may be charged for hospital treatment unless an exemption applies.

The most common exemption is the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), paid as part of most visa applications for more than six months. It currently costs £1,035 per year, or £776 per year for students, their dependants, Youth Mobility Scheme applicants and applicants under 18. While your visa is valid, the IHS gives you access to NHS services on the same basis as an ordinary resident, except for assisted conception services. You still pay the same charges as UK residents, such as prescription charges in England.

Visitors, including those on a Standard Visitor visa, do not pay the IHS and are generally chargeable for hospital treatment unless an exemption or a reciprocal healthcare arrangement applies.

What Changes When Your Visa Expires

If You Applied to Extend or Switch in Time

If you made a valid application for further permission before your visa expired, section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 extends your existing permission, on the same conditions, while the application (and any administrative review or appeal) is pending. The charging regulations treat this extended period as covered by your IHS, so you remain exempt from hospital charges. Keep proof of your application in case a hospital asks for it.

If Your Visa Expired Without An Application

Once your permission ends with no in-time application, you are an overstayer. You are not ordinarily resident and your IHS cover has ended, so hospital treatment becomes chargeable unless one of the exemptions below applies. One limited protection remains: if you were exempt when a course of treatment began and your status changes part-way through, you generally cannot be charged for the rest of that course of treatment.

Overstaying also has immigration consequences. You lose the right to work and rent, overstaying can be a criminal offence, and it can lead to future applications being refused or to a re-entry ban if you later leave the UK. See our guide to regularising your status after overstaying and take advice as early as possible.

Services That Are Free for Everyone

These services are free whatever your immigration status (unless you travelled to the UK specifically to get the treatment):

• Treatment in an A&E department. Charges can apply once you are admitted to a ward or given a follow-up hospital appointment.
• GP and other primary care services, and NHS 111.
• Family planning services (this does not include termination of pregnancy).
• Diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.
• Diagnosis and treatment of specified infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis.
• Treatment for physical or mental conditions caused by torture, female genital mutilation, domestic abuse or sexual violence.
• Palliative care provided by a registered palliative care charity or community interest company.

Registering with A GP

Anyone in England can register with a GP surgery for free. NHS guidance says you do not need ID, proof of address or proof of immigration status to register, and you do not pay for GP consultations. If your GP refers you to hospital, the hospital will assess separately whether charges apply.

Hospital Treatment: Urgent and Non-Urgent Care

For a chargeable overseas visitor, NHS hospitals must charge 150% of the cost of treatment (100% for people covered by certain reciprocal healthcare arrangements). Doctors decide how urgent your treatment is, and that decides how the hospital collects the charge:

• Immediately necessary or urgent treatment, meaning treatment that cannot safely wait until you could be expected to leave the UK, must go ahead without payment in advance. You will be invoiced afterwards.
• Maternity care is always treated as immediately necessary. It must never be withheld or delayed, even if charges will be raised later.
• Non-urgent treatment (for example, a planned operation) is only provided once the hospital has secured full payment upfront.

Do not put off urgent medical help because of your immigration status or worries about cost.

Exemptions from Hospital Charges

Even without valid permission, you are not charged for hospital treatment if you fall into an exempt group. The main groups are:

• People who have paid the IHS, while their permission (including permission extended under section 3C) is valid.
• Asylum seekers whose claim is pending, and people granted refugee status or humanitarian protection.
• Refused asylum seekers receiving Home Office support.
• Victims and suspected victims of modern slavery identified through the National Referral Mechanism.
• Children looked after by a local authority.
• Some people in immigration detention or custody.

Each exemption has detailed conditions. If you think one applies, tell the hospital's overseas visitors team and provide evidence.

How Hospitals Check Your Status

Hospitals must establish whether you are chargeable. Staff may ask where you live, about your immigration status and for supporting evidence, and they can check Home Office records directly. Your immigration status is now held digitally as an eVisa, so you may be asked for a share code from the "View and prove your immigration status" service in your UKVI account. Share codes last for 90 days.

Unpaid NHS Debts and Future Immigration Applications

NHS bodies must report debts of more than £500 owed by people subject to immigration control that have been outstanding for more than two months since the invoice date. The Home Office can use this information when deciding future applications, and an unpaid NHS debt can lead to a visa, extension or settlement application being refused. If you receive an invoice you cannot pay in full, contact the hospital promptly to agree a repayment plan. Keeping to an agreed plan helps protect your position.

Practical Steps

1. Diarise your visa expiry date and apply to extend or switch before it passes.
2. Keep proof of any pending application to show NHS services if asked.
3. Register with a GP now; registration is free and does not depend on your status.
4. In an emergency, go to A&E or call 999. Do not delay treatment over cost concerns.
5. If you receive a hospital invoice, check whether an exemption applies and, if not, agree a payment plan.
6. If your visa has already expired, get immigration advice about regularising your status as soon as possible.