NZ and AUS nationals – file your UK visa application now!
With less than one month to go until New Zealand and Australian nationals become eligible to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), now is the time to submit your UK visa application and avoid this extra immigration charge.
Currently, all New Zealand and Australian nationals are exempt from paying the recently introduced health surcharge which has significantly increased the cost of moving to the UK from outside the EEA for a period longer than six months. At £200 per migrant and payable per valid visa year, a family of four moving to the UK on a Tier 2 visa for five years can expect to spend up to £4,000 on this extra UK immigration cost alone.
As of 6 April 2016 however, New Zealand and Australian nationals submitting a UK visa application or applying to extend their current UK visa will join the ranks of migrants in the UK who are already paying this health fee.
It is therefore advisable that any New Zealand or Australian citizen currently looking to move to the UK or to extend their their current UK visa, submit their application before April’s deadline, thereby avoiding these extra UK immigration costs.
For advice on the payment of the Immigration Health Surcharge and how this will affect your plans to move to the UK, contact Smith Stone Walters.
