Visitor Visa for Medical Treatment in the UK

Being one of the world’s leading countries in medicine, Britain provides a UK medical visa that is available to anyone who meets the entry criteria. We’ll explain in detail how to access the country’s private clinics and hospitals.

Can I Come to the UK for Private Medical Treatment?

Quick answer: absolutely. There is a set of rules, however, that you should consider. Before applying for a UK visa for medical treatment, you need to make sure you can qualify on the following grounds:

Diagnosis. You must have an officially confirmed diagnosis, for which you can get treatment, medical examination, or consultation in Britain. For example, it can be a specific condition, in which British medicine has been actively advancing compared to other countries.
Consultation. You can also request and book a consultation from a medical specialist in person.
Funding. You have sufficient financial resources to cover your expenses, including visa fees, medical treatment, the cost of stay, and so on.
Zero risk. You have no dangerous/possibly deadly diseases that can be transmitted to other people.

Besides, you either should have enough money to pay for a ticket back or have it booked in advance, before the journey begins. This is necessary since your type of visa cannot be used for immigration or requesting temporary residence.

Eligibility Requirements for Private Medical Treatment Visit Visa

The eligibility requirements are as follows:

You won’t stay in the country longer than the period allowed by the visa.
Extending/repeating your visits with the purpose of living in the United Kingdom is not allowed.
Marrying a British citizen during the stay isn’t among your intentions, as there is a separate type of visa for that – M arriage Visitor visa.
You can’t be hired by a UK’s company or do work as a self-employed specialist. The allowed paid events are the only exceptions.

However, there’s more nuance to keep in mind. As a person seeking medical help, you fall under the Standard Visitor visa category. This means that you must also have a valid passport to enter the United Kingdom, undergo a tuberculosis test required for some countries, provide your biometric data, and pay the obligatory fees.

Required Documents for Visa Application

To apply for the private medical treatment for foreigners in the UK, you should prepare a group of accompanying documents. They include:

Visa form. The application form can be filled online at the United Kingdom’s government website.
Passport. As we’ve mentioned before, you should have a valid passport for international travel issued by your country’s migration office. There should be at least one blank page, on which visa info will be printed.
The visit cause. In your case this is the treatment confirmation coming from the British medical facility: private or NHS-related. This paper — a letter written by a doctor — should specify what kind of treatment you’ll receive, what your diagnosis is, how much time it will take to finalise it, estimated price, and so on.
Tuberculosis test (TB test). This is necessary if you plan to stay in the UK longer than six months, and also if you’re a citizen or have lived in one of the mentioned countries for more than half a year. A legitimate test can be received from a Home Office-approved clinic only.
Medical evidence. This is a letter written by your attending doctor from your home country, which elaborates why exactly you need to undergo treatment in a British clinic.
Proof of funds. These are documents that prove that you have enough money to cover all necessary expenses. They include bank statements, employment confirmation specifying salary and place of work, and proof that all of your money is legally earned. You can also have a sponsor paying for your therapy — in this case they should provide all necessary papers.
Residency. This will confirm that you have a place to live for the duration of the treatment: a hotel booking, tenancy agreement, or a letter from a friend/relative who can accommodate you.
IHS. Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) is mandatory if you plan to stay for more than 6 months. The surcharge amount is paid upfront and may vary from one case to another.
Travelling schedule. Here you provide details on your journey, including flight dates, UK’s destination where you’ll undergo treatment, and so forth.
Proof of return. Finally, you should confirm that you’re planning to go back to your country after the medical procedures are over. Usually, return flight tickets are enough.

If your documents are written in a language other than English/Welsh, then they should bear an apostille. That means they must be translated into English, with the full translator’s details: signature, full name, contact details, as well as the date when the documents were translated.

Note: The Home Office warns that providing all required documentation may not lead you to receiving a visa eventually. So, you need to secure your private medical treatment visitor visa before you book a place to stay or pay the medical costs in advance.

How to Apply for a Visitor Visa for Private Medical Treatment?

The application can be done online at the government’s website. It is imperative to share only genuine info: lying on a visa application automatically nullifies your chances for success and may ban you from entering the country for a 10-year period, if not forever.

The step-by step algorithm is the following:

Collect all of the documents — passport, bank statements, and others — and capture their digital images if possible.
Go to the UK.GOV’s website and initiate a visa application.
Register an appointment at an overseas visa application center — choose the one available in your country or nearby here.
Pay all needed fees and commissions.
Wait for the response form the UK Visas and Immigration service (UKVI).

Be aware that you’d best begin the application in advance — no later than at least three months before the departure date.

The Visa Processing Time

You should get a response within 3 weeks after you visit the overseas visa application center. In some cases, you can get a quicker result if you pay an extra commission to change the priority of your application.

Нow Much Does a Visa Cost?

The visitor visa for medical treatment in the UK costs £115 for 6 months and £200 for 11 months. In addition, you may be obliged to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge, which is £624 — this is required mostly from the visitors who plan to stay for more than half a year.

Can I Extend a Visa for Private Medical Treatment?

You can apply to stay in the UK for a further 6 months. In case it’s imperative for you to extend your medical visa, you can do so by confirming that:

You still meet the mandatory requirements: diagnosis, funding, purpose of stay, etc.
All of your previous medical bills in the UK are fully paid.
You consent to continue covering all further medical costs.

In this case, each extension will be charged with a £1,000 fee. However, their number is virtually unlimited.

How Can We Help?

We specialize in immigration cases of all types. With us, you can secure any type of visa to the United Kingdom on legal grounds. We guarantee that the process will be smooth, error-free, and quick as building successful immigration cases is our expertise.