UK IHS Refund Calculator (2026)
Check whether the Immigration Health Surcharge comes back after a refusal, a withdrawal or a shorter grant, how much you get at 2026 rates, and when the money should land.
Your estimated IHS refund
| Line | Value |
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What happens next
Estimate only. GOV.UK pays refunds to the card or account used for the IHS, usually within 6 weeks of the decision, and refunds are calculated in 6-month blocks. Your application fee stays with the Home Office. Confirm your own figure on GOV.UK before acting on it.
UK IHS Refund Calculator: Get Your Immigration Health Surcharge Back
Every long-stay UK applicant pays the Immigration Health Surcharge on top of the application fee — currently £1,035 per adult per year and £776 per year for students, student dependants, Youth Mobility applicants and under-18s. That surcharge is refunded in several situations, but only on the Home Office's own rules, only in 6-month blocks, and usually only weeks after you have stopped thinking about the application. This free IHS refund calculator tells you which of the three verdicts applies — full refund, partial refund or nothing — what the amount is at current rates, roughly when it should reach you and which step you should be on. It uses the refund table published on GOV.UK and the caseworker guidance behind it, checked on 4 October 2026. For what you paid in the first place, price the whole application with our UK visa fee calculator or read the full UK visa fee 2026 list; route rules sit in the Skilled Worker guide.
2026 IHS Rates Used by This Calculator
The surcharge has been frozen at these rates since February 2024. The 6.5% application fee uplift that took effect on 8 April 2026 did not touch it, and no further IHS change had been announced when we re-checked GOV.UK on 4 October 2026. Refunds always come back at the rate you paid, so a student refund is £776 per unused year, not £1,035.
| Applicant | Annual IHS rate | Per 6-month block | Example: 3 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard adult (work, family, most routes) | £1,035 | £517.50 | £3,105 |
| Student and student dependants | £776 | £388 | £2,328 |
| Youth Mobility Scheme | £776 | £388 | £2,328 |
| Anyone under 18 at application | £776 | £388 | £2,328 |
| Health and Care Worker and dependants | Exempt | £0 | £0 |
| Standard Visitor (6 months or less) | Not charged | £0 | £0 |
The surcharge is billed in 6-month blocks rounded up: 16 months costs 18 months of IHS, and the 33-month spouse grant rounds up to 3 full years. Refunds reverse that same block maths in your favour, so part-years never cost you money.
Who Qualifies for a Full IHS Refund
GOV.UK lists four triggers for a full refund, and none of them requires an application form. You get the whole surcharge back when your visa application is refused, when you withdraw before a decision is made, when the application is voided or rejected as invalid, and when you paid the IHS twice for the same application. The money returns to the account or card used for the original payment — GOV.UK states plainly that if you are due a full or partial refund you "do not have to do anything to get it".
Timing matters inside the refusal route. A refusal refund is held until appeal or administrative review rights have lapsed: the caseworker rules wait for the 14-calendar-day period after the refusal date, then release the refund when rights expire, or on the refusal date itself where no appeal exists. If you do appeal and win, expect to repay the surcharge from the refund you already banked. Applications filed inside the UK follow the same pattern, with the clock starting at the dismissal of the review.
Who Qualifies for a Partial IHS Refund
A partial refund covers situations where you keep a visa but the surcharge no longer matches the permission you hold:
| Situation | What you get back | How it is worked out |
|---|---|---|
| Visa granted for less time than you asked and paid for | Unused 6-month blocks | Paid years minus granted years, rounded to the block |
| A dependant on the same payment is refused | That dependant's IHS only | Full amount for the refused dependant |
| Paid twice while extending or switching in the UK | Duplicated period, rounded down | Nearest lower 6 months; under 6 months pays nothing |
| You overpaid because the course dates shortened the grant | Months no longer needed | Caseworker re-issues the refund at the decision |
The double-payment rule is the sharpest edge on the list. If you have paid twice for the same period of 6 months or more, the refund is rounded down to the nearest 6 months — pay twice for 15 months and you receive 12 months of IHS back. An overlap shorter than 6 months is not refunded at all, which is why switching and extending in the UK should never be paid on autopilot.
Who Does Not Get an IHS Refund
The exclusion list on GOV.UK is specific, and it is where hopeful applicants lose money. You get nothing if you withdraw your application after the visa has been granted, if the application succeeds but you never come to the UK, if you leave the UK before the visa ends (for example to make a fresh application), if you are told to leave before expiry, if you apply for indefinite leave to remain, or if you switch into a route that is exempt from the surcharge. Health and Care Workers never pay it in the first place, so there is nothing to reclaim from the Home Office — their reimbursement runs separately through the NHS Business Services Authority on a 6-monthly claim, for an average of at least 16 paid hours a week.
Two more limits apply. First, the application fee is never refunded, on refusal or on withdrawal — that is the Home Office's published position in the immigration and nationality refunds policy, and it is why the calculator above prices the surcharge alone. Second, refund requests must be made within 5 years of the IHS being paid, and any bank or card charges, currency conversion losses and chargebacks sit outside what the Home Office will return.
How Much Refund? The 6-Month Block Worked Out
Refunds follow the same block arithmetic as the original charge, so you can predict them exactly. The Home Office guidance gives three worked cases worth remembering:
| Scenario | Paid | Kept | Refund (standard rate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skilled Worker, 3 years paid, 2 years granted | £3,105 | £2,070 | £1,035 (1 year) |
| Student, 36 months applied, 22 months granted | 36 months | 24 months | 12 months of IHS |
| Student, 1 year 8 months paid, 1 year 5 months granted | 24 months | 18 months | 6 months of IHS |
| Same 15-month period paid twice | 15 months extra | — | 12 months (rounded down) |
| Refusal after a full 3-year payment | £3,105 | £0 | £3,105 (full) |
For a family the sum multiplies per applicant. A couple on the spouse route who pay 2 × (£2,064 + £3,105) and then get refused both receive their £3,105 back while the £2,064 application fees stay gone. If only the child on a 3-year Skilled Worker file is refused, the child's £2,328 (3 × £776) returns and the adults keep their permission. Enter your own numbers in the calculator above to get the same arithmetic for your file, and cross-check the underlying rates with our UK visa fee calculator.
How Long an IHS Refund Takes
The service standard GOV.UK publishes is 6 weeks from the decision, not 35 working days — if six weeks pass with nothing in your account, the instruction is to contact UK Visas and Immigration. The caseworker manual adds the mechanics behind that figure: refunds follow the decision, a 14-calendar-day period must elapse after the refusal date before a refusal refund can be released, and refunds that depend on appeal rights wait until those rights lapse. Refunds for appeals or administrative reviews are paid up to 6 weeks after the review is dismissed, inside or outside the UK.
The money lands on the original payment method. If someone else paid for you, the credit goes to their card. If your card has expired, the issuer normally still routes the credit to the underlying account, but a closed account is the single most common reason a "missing" refund is actually sitting undelivered — check with your bank before queuing with UKVI. Keep the IHS payment receipt, the payment reference and the decision letter together; they are the three things any enquiry will ask for.
Steps to Take, in Order
1. Confirm the grant length on your vignette or BRP against the length you paid for — the difference, in blocks, is the money. 2. Check the outcome list above so you know whether yours is full, partial or nothing before you spend an afternoon on the phone. 3. Watch the original card for a credit marked with the Home Office or IHS reference. 4. If 6 weeks pass, contact UKVI with your payment reference and decision date rather than re-applying. 5. If you paid twice while extending in the UK, compare the overlapping periods and expect the refund rounded down to 6 months. And before you pay any future application, re-price the surcharge with our UK visa fee calculator or the visa calculator so the block rounding is not a surprise.
UK IHS Refund FAQs
Do I have to apply for an Immigration Health Surcharge refund?
No. If you are due a full or partial IHS refund GOV.UK says you do not have to do anything to get it — the Home Office works it out at the decision stage and pays it to the account or card you paid with.
How long does an IHS refund take in 2026?
You usually get the refund within 6 weeks of the decision on your application. GOV.UK tells you to contact UK Visas and Immigration if it has not arrived within 6 weeks. There is no 35 working day service standard for IHS refunds.
Is the IHS refunded if my visa is refused?
Yes, in full. A refusal gives a full refund of the surcharge you paid for every applicant on that refusal, released once any appeal or administrative review rights have lapsed. The visa application fee itself is never refunded.
How much of the IHS is refunded if my visa is shorter than I paid for?
The refund covers the unused part of the surcharge, calculated in 6-month blocks rather than daily. Pay for 3 years (3 x £1,035 = £3,105) and get 2 years back and the refund is 1 year, or £1,035 at the standard rate.
What happens to my IHS if I withdraw the application?
Withdraw before a decision is made and you get the IHS back in full. Withdraw after the visa has already been granted and you get nothing — the surcharge is only refunded before a decision, not afterwards.
Do I get an IHS refund if I never travel to the UK?
No. Not travelling, leaving the UK before the visa ends, being told to leave, applying for indefinite leave to remain and switching to an exempt route are all listed on GOV.UK as events that do not trigger a refund.
Do dependants who are refused get their own IHS back?
Yes. If a dependant is refused while the main applicant succeeds, only that dependant's Immigration Health Surcharge is refunded — the main applicant keeps paying for the period granted.
Is the visa application fee refunded with the IHS?
No. Home Office application fees are non-refundable even on refusal or withdrawal. Only the Immigration Health Surcharge comes back, which is why the fee you should double-check before paying is the application fee, not the surcharge.
What if I paid the IHS twice for the same period?
You get a partial refund of the duplicated period, rounded down to the nearest 6 months — paying twice for a 15 month period refunds 12 months of IHS. An overlap of less than 6 months is not refunded at all.
Did the IHS rate change in 2026?
No. UK application fees rose by 6.5% on 8 April 2026 but the surcharge stayed at £1,035 per year for standard applicants and £776 per year for students, student dependants, Youth Mobility applicants and under-18s — the same rates set in February 2024.
Do Health and Care Worker visa holders pay the IHS?
No. Health and Care Worker applicants and their dependants are exempt, so there is nothing to refund on the surcharge. Eligible NHS and social care workers can separately claim an IHS reimbursement from the NHS Business Services Authority every 6 months.
How We Fact-Checked This Calculator
All refund rules and rates were checked on 4 October 2026 against GOV.UK's Immigration Health Surcharge refunds page (full refunds for refusal, withdrawal before a decision, invalid applications and duplicate payments; partial refunds for shorter grants, refused dependants and double payment rounded down to 6 months; automatic payment to the original card within 6 weeks) and the published Home Office IHS caseworker guidance (6-month block arithmetic, the 14-day post-refusal hold, appeal-rights timing and the 5-year limit on requests). Rates came from the GOV.UK "how much you pay" page: £1,035 standard, £776 reduced, unchanged since February 2024 and unaffected by the 8 April 2026 fee uplift.