Rishi Sunak uses Budget to hike cost for migrants to use the NHS as experts predict the UK’s new post-Brexit immigration system will see net migration fall to 129,000 a year

• Chancellor announced Immigration Health Surcharge to increase to £624 a year
• Treasury said increased surcharge will be rolled out from October this year
• It will then also apply to EU migrants after the end of the Brexit transition period
• Meanwhile, Office for Budget Responsibility predicts net migration of 129,000

Rishi Sunak today announced he is hiking the amount it costs migrants to use the NHS as the government’s spending watchdog predicted net migration could fall to 129,000. 

The Chancellor said the Immigration Health Surcharge will be increased from £400 a year to £624 a year for adults and there will also be a new discounted rate of £470 for children. 

The increased charges, which have to be paid during the visa application process, will be rolled out in October this year. 

EU migrants do not currently have to pay the fees but they will have to from the start of 2021 following the end of the Brexit transition period.   

Experts warned the move could ultimately put many people off coming to the UK. 

It came as the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicted that the government’s proposed Australian-style points-based immigration system will result in annual net migration of 129,000. 

The UK’s new system is due to be rolled out from January next year and the predicted figure would represent a huge decrease from the most recent net migration statistics which suggest an annual increase of about 240,000. 

Rishi Sunak today announced at the Budget that the Immigration Health Surcharge will be increased to £624 a year

The Tories pledged to increase the Immigration Health Surcharge in their 2019 general election manifesto. 

Mr Sunak told the House of Commons today: ‘Migrants benefit from our NHS. And we all want them to do so – but it’s right that what people get out, they also put in.

‘There is a surcharge already, but it doesn’t properly reflect the benefits people receive.

‘So, as we promised in our manifesto, we are increasing the Immigration Health Surcharge to £624, with a discounted rate for children.’   

The Conservative Party manifesto vowed to ‘clamp down on health tourism, ensuring that those from overseas who use NHS services pay their fair share’.  

The hike means a family of four wanting to move to the UK from overseas could have to pay upwards of £2,000 a year in NHS fees to do so.

Treasury estimates suggest the move will generate an extra £150 million in 2020/21 and then approximately £355 million extra every year thereafter. 

Chiara Manzoni, senior social researcher at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said: ‘This substantial increase makes it more expensive for migrants to come to the UK and could represent a disincentive to potential newcomers. 

‘The surcharge will also impact on those already here, making their lawful immigration status more expensive.’ 

It came as the OBR’s assessment of the government’s proposed spending plans suggested the UK’s new immigration system could have a massive impact on the number of people moving to Britain. 

The watchdog stated: ‘Last October, the ONS revised up the level of net migration in the “principal” projection to settle at 190,000 in 2025, which we incorporated in our pre-measures forecast. 

‘To reflect the more restrictive regime, in our post-measures forecast we have switched to the “zero net EU migration” variant, in which net migration flows fall to 129,000.’    

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