Health Insurance Needed?

I am looking to attend school in Coventry next year at the University of Warwick and was wondering if my husband and I will need to purchase UK health insurance. I will be on a Student Visa, and he may be able to use my visa also, otherwise he will be on a Work Visa. Will we need to have health insurance? What is the easiest way to obtain health insurance? Are there different types of insurance? What are the better/cheaper companies?

Any information would be greatly appreciated!!

Sydra

No, you shouldn't need to purchase health insurance as you will be covered by the NHS.

However, next year the UK government is planning to introduce a levy fee in order for visa holders to be able to access the NHS for 'free'. For students, it is expected that this levy will be £150 per year of the visa validity (£200 per year for other visas), which will be added to your visa fee when you apply.

As long as you will be studying at masters level or higher, your husband should be able to qualify to join you on a Tier 4 student dependent visa, which will give him the right to work in the UK (I'm assuming he will also have to pay an NHS levy).

If he cannot qualify for a dependent visa though, he will not be able to move with you unless he can secure a sponsored work visa. Unfortunately, work visas can be extremely difficult to qualify for unless he works in a very specialised, highly skilled or in demand field... because otherwise the company has to prove there is not a single person in the UK or EU who can do the job before they can sponsor him for a work visa... and there are very few jobs which no one out of the 500 million people in the EU is qualified to do.

ksand24 Thank you for your quick response and very helpful information! Unfortunately I will be receiving my bachelor degree so it looks like he will have to get a general visa. And thank you for the information about the levy fee. I will be sure to look in to the NHS to learn more about it.

ksand24 Thank you for your quick response and very helpful information! Unfortunately I will be receiving my bachelor degree so it looks like he will have to get a general visa.

Ah, okay - in that case, just be prepared that he may not be able to qualify for a visa and you might have to move without him.

I know of people who have been trying to qualify for work visas for years and have had no luck at all because the requirements are so strict.

If he can't qualify for a work visa, other options might be for him to study at a UK university as well, on his own student visa, or maybe him just coming to visit you in the UK for short periods during your degree.

And thank you for the information about the levy fee. I will be sure to look in to the NHS to learn more about it.

The levy fee stuff isn't completely set in stone yet, but it is being proposed for the next financial year... so it's just a heads up that you may have to pay something for it.

ksand24 Thank you for your quick response and very helpful information! Unfortunately I will be receiving my bachelor degree so it looks like he will have to get a general visa. And thank you for the information about the levy fee. I will be sure to look in to the NHS to learn more about it.

General visa?

Unfortunately, people cannot just come and move to the UK (much as they cannot just decide to move to the USA). If he is to join you in the UK, the only possibility for him is if he (or you) have EU citizenship or if he qualifies for a work visa (as you have intimated that he will not qualify for a Tier 4 dependent visa because you will be on an undergraduate course). Sadly, these visas are notoriously difficult to qualify for, as Ksand mentioned.

Someone on a visitor (tourist) visa, which is generally issued at the airport, is not allowed to stay for more than 6 months in 12, as a rule of thumb, and is not eligible for free healthcare under the NHS.