Closed petition Refund visa applicants who have paid the IHS and then contributed towards NI

Closed on 8 February 2017

I am a British citizen living and working in the UK with my South African-born husband and 2 children who are here on spousal/dependant visas. Both my husband and I have been working here for the past 2 and a half years and paying National Insurance.

Last year, an Immigration Health Surcharge was introduced for all non EEA persons applying for visas to come to the UK for more than 6 months in order to cover the NHS. My family are about to apply for Further Leave to Remain and we now have to fork out £1500 for the IHS. I understand the need to charge for the use of the NHS, but what I fail to understand is why we can’t claim this back as a tax refund at the end of the year when we are paying £7872 pa into National Insurance.