Immigration Heath Surcharge - Switching Visas

[Maria7890]

Hello,

My Tier-2 ICT that was renewed at the end of March 2020. I was unfortunately made redundant in June 2020 and now have applied to switch for Family Route - Spouse Visa. I have not received my curtailment letter.

We paid the Immigration Health Surcharge in March 2020 and I included the reference number on my application.

I just received an email from the Home Office saying that I haven't paid it. Does the fee not transfer with the person?

If you need to pay the IHS with each application, is there any way to recover some of the cost? Seems like I've just paid for the same service twice.

Thank you!

[AmazonianX]

Hello,

My Tier-2 ICT that was renewed at the end of March 2020. I was unfortunately made redundant in June 2020 and now have applied to switch for Family Route - Spouse Visa. I have not received my curtailment letter.

We paid the Immigration Health Surcharge in March 2020 and I included the reference number on my application.

I just received an email from the Home Office saying that I haven't paid it. Does the fee not transfer with the person?

If you need to pay the IHS with each application, is there any way to recover some of the cost? Seems like I've just paid for the same service twice.

Thank you!

IHS Fees are not transferable neither is it recoverable in cases where the visa applied for was issued. The reason why you are not fully utilizing the particular extent/validity of the visa after issuance does not seem to faze HO no matter how genuine it is.
The new application will require payment of new IHS fees.

[Maria7890]

Thank you, albeit a very frustrating response.

I read that sometimes people get automatic refunds, my current visa expires in March 2025, so we paid 5-years of the IHS. Now with the Spouse-FLR M it is for 2.5 years so perhaps it might be worth trying for a refund.

Low expectation though, this is the Home Office afterall

[ssasi2020]

I got back unused ihs automatically to my card.
I applied spouse visa in 2017( paid full ihs) then i switched to parent in 2018( paid full ihs with application). But after visa grant , i got unused ihs from spouse visa back. I didn't have to contact anyone at ukvi. It was automatic.
Just pay the ihs as requested by ukvi. And i am preety sure you will get back ihs back. ( i think they will deduct 400 for 1 year and return 600)