🌍 NHS Treatment for Migrants: What You Need to Know
If you are a migrant living in the UK, this guide will help you understand which NHS services are free and when you may need to pay. Primary care is free, but for secondary care, you may need to show proof that you are living in the UK lawfully and permanently.
🙋♂️ Who Does NOT Have to Pay for Primary Care
You do NOT need to pay for GP (doctor) services if you are:
- ✅ A refugee or have humanitarian or temporary protection
- ✅ An asylum seeker (your claim is not yet decided)
- ✅ Receiving support from the Home Office under section 95
- ✅ A child looked after by a local council
- ✅ A victim or suspected victim of modern slavery or human trafficking, including your spouse/partner and children under 18 (if lawfully in the UK)
- ✅ An immigration detainee
- ✅ A prisoner
🏥 FREE NHS Services for Everyone
You can use these services for FREE:
- ✅ GP (Doctor) appointments
- ✅ A&E (Emergency Room) treatment
- ✅ Ambulance (including air ambulance)
- ✅ Walk-in centres and Urgent Treatment Centres
- ✅ Treatment for health problems caused by torture, FGM, domestic or sexual violence
- ✅ Diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases
- ✅ COVID-19 testing and treatment
- ✅ Family planning and contraception (not abortion or infertility treatment)
- ✅ Palliative care (end-of-life care in the community or hospice)
- ✅ NHS 111 telephone advice line
🚨 Maternity care (care for having a baby) may be charged, but:
- You will NOT be refused care if you cannot pay.
- It is very important for the health of you and your baby.
🏥 Hospital Treatment in Leeds (Secondary Care)
When you go to hospital, you will be asked:
- 🧳 How long you have lived in the UK
- ✉️ To fill in a form called the NHS Eligibility Form
- 📄 To provide documents to prove you are living in the UK lawfully and permanently
Examples of documents you can show:
- Passport with visa
- EU ID card
- Asylum registration card
- Biometric Residence Card
- Utility or council tax bill
- Tenancy agreement
- Wage slip
💳 Do You Have to Pay for Hospital Treatment?
You might have to pay if:
- ❌ You cannot show proof you are living lawfully and permanently in the UK
- ❌ You are visiting the UK from another country with a return date
You do NOT have to pay if:
- ✅ You are from the EEA and plan to settle in the UK (your spouse/partner may need to sign a support form)
- ✅ You are from outside the EEA and have Indefinite Leave to Remain
- ✅ You have refugee status, or are an asylum seeker or failed asylum seeker getting support from the Home Office or council
- ✅ You are a student or visitor with health insurance or an EU health card
ℹ️ If You Are Asked to Pay
- ✉️ If treatment is not urgent, and you must pay, you may be asked to pay before the treatment.
- ⚠️ If treatment is urgent, you may be asked to pay afterwards.
- 💼 The hospital will give you an Estimate of Care form explaining the cost and payment details.
- 🌍 You have the right to get this information in your main language or with an interpreter.
📅 More Information
- ℹ️ Categories of Exemption – NHS Website
- ℹ️ Migrant Health Guide – GOV.UK
- ℹ️ Moving to England from the EEA – NHS
🛅 Visitors From Outside the UK
If your family visits you from abroad:
- ⚠️ If they get sick or need emergency care, they may need to pay.
- ✉️ Remind them to get health insurance before they travel.
