Check if your immigration status lets you get free healthcare

This advice applies to Scotland. See advice for See advice for England, See advice for Northern Ireland, See advice for Wales

NHS healthcare that's free for everyone

Some NHS treatment is free and available to anyone who needs it. This includes:

treatment in a hospital Accident and Emergency department
seeing a GP - as an NHS or temporary patient
family planning services
treatment for some infectious diseases
compulsory psychiatric treatment.

You'll have access to this type of free NHS healthcare even if you have no recourse to public funds.

Any free NHS treatment you get, or any help with NHS costs, won’t affect your immigration status.

Find out more about healthcare for overseas visitors on NHS inform.

Check if you can get free secondary NHS healthcare

You might have to pay for other NHS services - these services are called ‘secondary healthcare’. Secondary healthcare is care from a hospital for something that isn’t an emergency - for example, an operation to replace your hip or maternity care.

Whether you can get free secondary healthcare depends on the length and purpose of your residence in the UK and your immigration status, not your nationality.

The NHS inform website has information about healthcare for people from abroad. Find out more about:

Even if you’re entitled to free secondary NHS healthcare, you might be charged for some NHS services - for example, dental treatment, prescriptions and glasses.

You might not have to pay for these services if you can get certain benefits, like Income Support. Check if you can get help with health costs on NHS inform.

Getting free NHS healthcare if you’re from the EU, the EEA or Switzerland

If you’re from the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, you might be able to get secondary NHS healthcare for free, depending on your immigration status.

If you're an Irish citizen, you can get free NHS healthcare when you start living in the UK.

The EEA includes EU countries and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

You need to be ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK. This means you’re living in the UK legally and you’re not a visitor. You might be asked to prove this.

You must also have one of the following:

British citizenship - for example, if you have dual nationality
indefinite leave to remain
‘settled’ or ‘pre-settled status’ from the EU Settlement Scheme
applied for settled or pre-settled status before 30 June 2021 and are waiting for a decision - you’ll need to show your application certificate
limited leave to remain - for example, you arrived in the UK after 31 December 2020 on a work visa
been trafficked - your family can also get free secondary healthcare.

If you're not ordinarily resident in the UK, you might be charged for NHS services.

Check if your health charges are covered by an EU or EEA country or Switzerland

You might be entitled to have your NHS healthcare paid for by another country - for example, if you live in the UK but get a state pension from the EU, the EEA or Switzerland.

You’ll need to have either an:

S1 certificate - for example, if you’re a 'frontier worker'
S2 certificate - for example, if you have an S2 visa.

Check if your family can get free NHS healthcare

To get free secondary NHS healthcare your family member must have one of the following:

pre-settled or settled status
a family permit - they'll need to apply for pre-settled or settled status within 3 months of arriving in the UK
applied for pre-settled or settled status by 30 June 2021 and be waiting for a decision - they’ll need to show their application certificate.

If you’re visiting the UK from an EU country

You can use a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) issued in that country. Your EHIC will cover the costs of treatment if you get ill on the visit. You can also use an EHIC from an EU country if you’re a student and either:

your course started before 1 January 2021
you’re studying in the UK for less than 6 months.

If you’re visiting the UK from Norway, you can use your Norwegian passport to get medically necessary healthcare for free - for example, an accident or illness that can’t wait until you get home.

Accessing treatment

If you're entitled to free treatment, you can get it immediately. You don’t need to have been here for a certain amount of time.

If you do not meet the conditions for free treatment, you must be given clear information about charges in a way you understand. This could include providing information in your own language or through an interpreter.

If you do not agree with a decision, you can make a complaint about the NHS.

Getting healthcare if you're from Ukraine

If you ordinarily live in Ukraine but left because of the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022, you and your partner and children can access NHS services at no charge, on the same basis as people living in Scotland.

This also applies if you were in Scotland on a short-term visa when the conflict began and you're applying to extend or switch visas because you cannot return to Ukraine.

Paying for urgent NHS hospital treatment

If you’re not entitled to free NHS hospital treatment, you'll still get medical treatment that stabilises a life-threatening condition.

You’ll get treatment to deal with the emergency, but you’ll have to return home to complete the treatment once the emergency is over.

You won't have to pay for the urgent treatment before you get it, but you might have to pay afterwards.

Paying for non-urgent NHS hospital treatment

If the hospital treatment is not an emergency, but it must start immediately, you might be asked to sign an agreement to pay.

In these circumstances, it’s important to find out the likely cost. If the treatment is not urgent, you can refuse it if you can’t afford it. You can delay your treatment until you can raise the money. If you can’t raise the money, you’ll be refused treatment.

You've been told you'll be charged

If you're entitled to free hospital treatment, but have been told you’ll be charged, you should contact the NHS organisation that’s charging you and explain why you’re entitled to free treatment.

Find out how to complain about the NHS.

GPs and dentists

It’s up to the GP or dentist whether they accept you onto their list of NHS patients. There are some exceptions to these rules - for example, if you need emergency treatment.

If you're visiting the UK for less than 3 months, a GP practice might accept you as a temporary resident. There are certain services you might have to pay a fee for.

If you cannot find a GP or a dentist who will register you, you can contact NHS 24 on 111.

Charges for dental treatment

Even if you're accepted onto a dentist's list of NHS patients, you must pay charges for dental treatment.

Find out more about NHS dental treatment.

Find out how to get help with health costs.