UK healthcare surcharge for spouse of British citizen

[bristol14]

Hi

I am a British citizen and I recently got married in Pakistan. My wife is preparing to apply for spouse visa. I see that there are UK healthcare surcharges ( called the ‘immigration health surcharge’ or IHS) for family members to join for more than 6 months.

Do I have to pay for these surcharges for spouse visa and at what stage?

Guidelines say:
For visa applications made outside the UK, you’ll have to pay if:

you’re a national of a country outside the European Economic Area
you’re applying for a visa to work, study or join your family in the UK for more than 6 months (but you’re not applying to remain in the UK permanently)

[Casa]

The NHS surcharge will have to be paid online before submitting the Spouse Settlement visa application. Your wife will be issued with a reference number which should then be added to the visa application. The fee will be £600 in addition to the visa fee.
Note that on the 18th March the Spouse Settlement visa fee will increase from £956 to £1,195.

[bristol14]

Hi

I am gathering the supporting documents for spouse visa. I have a query which documents should be submitted original and which ones can be relied on copies.

Current Passport (original)
One Passport Size Colored Photograph
Original NIC
VAF4A form
Appendix 2 form
Marriage Certificate (original or would the attested copy suffice?)
IELTS Certificate (original)
TB Test Certificate (original)
Sponsorship Form
Divorce Certificate of previous marriage (original or would the attested copy suffice?)
Relationship evidences
- British passport (attested copy?)
- Wedding pictures
- Skype and what's app chat / call screenshots
- money transfer receipt
- email printout
Financial Requirements
- Bank statements (stamped as I get only electronic copy)
- Accountant letter (for limited company accounts)
- Business bank statements (print outs)
- Company registration (original or copy?)
- Company VAT registration (original or copy?)
Accommodation Arrangement
- tenancy agreement (original)
- council tax letter (original)
- utility bill letter (original)

[bristol14]

Hi

Planning to apply spouse settlement visa from Lahore (Pakistan). Passport submission and bio-metric will be done at Visa application centre in Lahore and supporting documents will be sent to Sheffield.

At visa4UK official website, I will pay standard visa fee. I can pay priority visa (GBP450) separately at Gerry's VFS global website or in person on the appointment day. The only role of Gerry's as I see is collection passport and do the bio-metric. Is it worth to pay them £450? I am happy to pay for it if it makes the processing time faster. Any recent experiences?