안녕하세요.
영국에서 IHS(immigration health surcharge) 비용을 인상한다고 합니다.
IHS는 영국 의료 보험비입니다. 2015년 4월 6일 이후로 영국에서 6개월 이상 체류 목적을 가진 입국자들에게 필수로 걷는 비용입니다. 지불하지 않을 경우 비자가 거절될 수 있으며, 비자 신청 시 IHS 비용을 결제했다면 영국에 입국 후 NHS를 통해서 영국인들과 동일한 의료 서비스를 무료로 받을 수 있습니다.
기존에는 워킹홀리데이 비자 1년 기준 150 파운드, 그 외 학생 비자는 200 파운드로 책정되었는데 각각 300 파운드, 400 파운드로 2배로 비용이 인상될 예정입니다.
인상하는 시점에 대해서는 구체적인 내용이 발표되지 않았고, Home Office에서도 비용 인상에 대한 소식은 아직 반영되지 않았습니다.
아래는 영국 The Guardian의 기사 전문입니다.
Annual charge paid by migrants for using the NHS to double
- Immigration health surcharge, which doctors fear may encourage racial profiling, will increase to £400 a year
Charges paid by temporary migrants to the UK to use the NHS are to double, the government has announced. Ministers said the move would raise around £220m a year for the health service while ensuring that migrants made a “fair contribution” towards its costs.
The increase to the immigration health surcharge – payable by people from outside the European Economic Area staying in the UK for six months or longer – means the main rate will rise from £200 to £400 a year. The discounted rate for students and those on the youth mobility scheme will go up from £150 to £300.
A surcharge was brought in by the government in 2015 in a clampdown on so-called “health tourism”. It has been questioned by some doctors, who have voiced concern that the policy could be discriminatory and result in racial profiling to identify chargeable patients.
NHS chiefs urged to stop giving patient data to immigration officials
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James O’Shaughnessy, the health minister, said: “Our NHS is always there when you need it, paid for by British taxpayers. We welcome long-term migrants using the NHS, but it is only right that they make a fair contribution to its long-term sustainability. By increasing the surcharge so that it better reflects the actual costs of using health services, this government is providing an extra £220m a year to support the NHS.”
Health tourism, where people travel to Britain for NHS treatments they are not entitled to, took up about 0.3% of the NHS’s budget, according to the fact-checking website Full Fact last year. This could include British citizens living overseas who return to the UK for treatment. The treatment of people who fall ill while visiting the UK costs the NHS about £1.8bn a year.
A National Audit Office report in 2016 said the government paid £674m to other European countries for treatment of Britons abroad, but received only £49m in return for NHS treatment of European citizens. (출처 The Guardian)
영국 비자 관련 문의는 사람사랑유학원으로 연락 주시기 바랍니다.
