to think it's unfair we have to pay a £500 surcharge for the NHS

[alaskanbaby]

My DH (let's call him Mr. Alaska) and I both work full time, and pay income tax like everyone else, which goes towards our use of the NHS like everyone else. We've just found out that we need to fork out a £500 surcharge for his use of the NHS as part of his extension of his immigration visa (for being my husband of 5 years, and father of our 18 month old DD - both she and I are British, though I guess she's sponging off the NHS quite a bit). Am I being unreasonable to think it's unfair that my DH has to pay twice?

Sorry that should read we were told we could NOT get permanant leave to remain even with the appropriate funds.

I think you hit the nail on the head lavendersun a lot of people who deal with cases are jobsworths, they completely lack common sense and need reality to fit the rules exactly as they are written. I think that's a major part of the problems people face.

Our experience went relatively smoothly as well Degustibus - DH is a non EU citizen but luckily got a work visa sponsored by his employer in his home country. So although I (UK citizen) earn nothing as a student, he was able to get his ILR and citizenship through the work visa route and it didn't matter that I have no income or savings. It did take about six years and cost thousands to get the various visas and citizenship in the end, but it was worth it for us to make sure DH's right to stay was permanent. We didn't have to be separated for any length of time or have DH fly home either, he got his citizenship last year so fairly recent although I think he started under older rules.

That's good, buzzy. But it strikes me as totally unfair that the process is so smooth for someone who has a job in the UK vs for someone who has a WIFE in the UK. It's not like you can just go off and marry someone else...

I am British living in Germany with my German spouse. I paid tax and NI in Uk for over 30 years. Because I have not reached Uk pension age, I am charged Euros 320 per month to access the German public health system. This will be funded by the UK once I reach 67. £500 a year is ridiculously cheap and will go nowhere near meeting the cost of your husband to the system.

£500 a year is ridiculously cheap and will go nowhere near meeting the cost of your husband to the system.

It is not 500 per year. It is 500 per visa application on top of the standard national insurance contributions that employees pay.

This man has already paid into the system for 10 years. Why should he have to pay extra?

The basic problem with the NHS is that it is residence based - not contribution based. This worked in the 40s, 50s 60s when the population was relatively stable. With increasing numbers of migrants it is no longer sustainable, but no government wants to touch it because, like guns in the US, or no speed limits in Germany, it is a sacred cow. Like the rest of Europe, we need to move to a contribution based sytem where you get out what you put in - with a safety net for those who do not contribute. The sytem is already breaking because it is paying out more than is paid in. It will fail completely if we do not get a grip. A £500 one off fee for a new arrival is more than reasonable. Just compare it with what you would be paying anywhere else in the world! The unfair thing is that this is not also applied to EU migrants - but the requirement to treat Eu migrants as ones own nationals precludes this.

The unfair thing is that this is not also applied to EU migrants - but the requirement to treat Eu migrants as ones own nationals precludes this.

Sorry to point out somethhing that has been mentioned several times already: the unfair thing is that this applies to partners of uk nationals not partner of eu ones. So not only it is not true that uk and eu nationals are threated the same, uk nationals in the uk are threated worst than eu nationals.

I think people who play by the rules are easy targets and with easy targets you're gaurenteed to get payment, might even cover some of the costs for those who do not play by the rules.

tomato exactly.

Entirely agree that the system is unfair to those who play by the rules lavender. I am a UK national with a long NI record. I still pay higher rate tax in UK. Living in Germany as the spouse of an EU national, but not working myself, I have to pay over 300 Euros a month to access the state health care system here. Moreover, when I return to UK, I will also not have access to the NHS for 12 months because I will not be seen to meet the habitual residency test. The whole thing is a complete farce - because a residence based system, devised in the 1940s is no longer fit for purpose.

I don't think YABU at all, especially if he's been paying tax and NI for that long. The reason I think this is because my sister come over here on a 2 year visa and got very, very ill, 1 month after having her job (so paid 1 lot of NI and tax). She had a 7 week hospital stay and a lot of very expensive treatments and specialists, and never paid a penny, despite still having travel insurance. I will be forever grateful she had the option of treatment, but I would be surprised if her bill was less than £400k. When stuff like that is allowed to go on and people like your DH are asked to pay more in, I get a bit about things.

There is of course the Surinder Singh route that more people are taking up, though of course the UK government is trying to stop this... en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surinder_Singh_route

I had to pay this too. I have lived in the UK since 2007 and have worked for that time, first part time whilst I was a student (for eight months) and then full time since then.

In total I have paid:

£9,500 for international student fees
NI
£250 for student visa
£250 for extension of student visa
£850 for post student visa (in person)
£580 for tier 2 visa
£1040 for spousal visa (in person)
£649 for second part spousal visa
£500 for health surcharge

All bearing in mind that although it is true that I did not pay NI before I lived in the UK, I also did not use the NHS before I lived in the UK!

I am also not entitled to any benefits or public funds, and my husband and I have to prove we meet a financial threshold in order for me to stay.

I worked first for the NHS and now for a charity funded by the NHS.

Still think it's fair???

Oh, plus various postal fees, biometric residence fees, travel, cost to change name, etc.

Cost to change name? I dont think that is immigration related?

It cost me £13 extra for postage and SAE when they spelled my maiden name incorrectly on my naturalisation certificate. I made them aware of their mistake when I received my approval letter, six weeks before the ceremony at which I got the cert. But no, it was not possible to rectify the mistake in those six weeks, but I had to collect the wrong certificate at the ceremony, and post it by snail mail alongside evidence how my name is spelled correctly (which they already had with my application) and an SAE. It's the most inefficient and wasteful organisation with the worst customer service I ever encountered, but with a captive audience of course there is no incentive to improve anything

I see widow.

This site is full of heartbreaking stories of families separated by the new rules:
familyimmigrationalliance.wordpress.com