You may come to the UK as an S2 Healthcare Visitor if you received planned health care in the UK under S2 arrangements or if traveling with someone who may be in receipt of healthcare under the S2 arrangement, and your role is to provide aid.
The ‘S2 arrangement’ allows people residing in the EEA or Switzerland or some other countries to received planned healthcare treatment in the UK at the expenditures of their native country.
Eligibility Criteria
If you are a non-EU national, you apply for a visa to enter the UK. On the other hand, if you live in EEA or Switzerland, then you should meet the eligibility requirements before traveling to the UK. The Eligibility Criteria is for gaining the visa is as follows:
You can only travel to the UK in 3 conditions if you want to apply for an S2 Health Care Visa:
- If you’re a patient
- If you’re a helper of the patient to support him
- You are a child of the patient
1- Applying for visa as patient
If you’re going to travel to the UK you must have applied authorization to receive planned health care treatment under the S2 arrangements before the end of the transition period. Commonly the end of a transition period in the UK is 31 December. You should approve your request by your home state and the arrangements agreed with the treating facility in the UK, in the form of an S2 certificate of treatment with Documents known as a “Portable Document S2”.
The docuemnts you need to provide are:
- Your S2 Certificate and Portable Documents
- Passport or valid travel document
- Financial Documents showing you have sufficient funds to stay in the UK and for returning journey.
2- If you’re a helper of patient to support him
You can help a patient as a family member or friend in traveling to the UK under S2 Authorized treatment. The main purpose of this person is to provide help to the patient, care, and financial support in the UK. As a helper of the patient, you will need to apply for another separate S2 Health Care Visitor Visa.
Documents you need to provide are:
- Information of person you are join authorized treatment in the UK and passes as an S2 Healthcare Visitor, which must submit these details:
- details of the patient’s S2 Healthcare Visitor visa or allowance to stay
- ‘Portable Document S2 and a copy of the biometrics (fingerprint and photograph) page of the patient’s passport or travel document
- Proof of your residence
- Passport or travel document
- Financial Documents showing you can support yourself
3- Children
If you’re under 18, you must meet the following eligibility Criteria:
- You must have permission from Guardian;
- you must have made suitable arrangements for your travel and stay in the UK;
- you must have sufficient funds to support yourself without working or getting help from public funds, or you should have family and friends in the UK that can support you.
Applying for an S2 Healthcare Visitor visa
This visa can be applied 3 months before you travel but in some cases, you can travel to the UK within one week after applying.
You must apply online. And after application, you should visit a visa application center to have your fingerprints and photograph taken.
There are no visa fees to apply for an S2 Health Care visa, it’s totally free to apply online or to extending it.
Extending S2 Healthcare Visitor visa
Generally, the duration of the S2 Health Care Visa is 6 months but you can extend the duration of your Visa by living in the UK for Free. You can extend the duration of your Visa in that case if your disease can’t be cured in 180 days. You will need to complete the required application form and show you continue to meet the eligibility requirements.
Applying as main applicant
You need to provide the following documents to extend your S2 Health Care Visa:
- your current passport or travel document you used to enter the UK
- 2 passport-sized photos;
- Valid S2 Certificate and schedule of treatment, portable Documents s2 which explains the extension period you’re applying for, or a letter from the doctor or any health professional providing the treatment in the UK;
- financial documents which showing still you have sufficient funds to support yourself during your extended stay in the UK and for your onward journey (proof of earnings).
Apypling as an accompanying person
If you’re a helper or supporter person with the patient to support himself you should provide these documents to extend the duration of your S2 Health Care Visa:
- your passport or other travel documents you used to enter the UK
- 2 photos (passport size)
- proof of your native residence
- financial documents will be the proof that you have still sufficient money to support yourself during your extended stay in the UK and for your return journey
- Proof of the person you are looking after is undergoing S2 authorized treatment in the UK and permitted to stay as an S2 Healthcare Visitor, which must be one of the following:
- details of the patient’s valid permission to stay as an S2 Healthcare Visitor
- Patient S2 certificate and Portable Documents
- a copy of the letter from the patient’s hospital health manager or other health professional providing the treatment in the UK by detailing the more treatment need and a copy of the biodata page of the patient’s valid passport or travel document
Once you have all above documents intact, you should send your details to UKBA and if they think you are eligible for the visa extension, you will be provided a visa form that would fill in and send back to them for further processing.
What you can’t do as an S2 Healthcare Visitor?
You will not get NHS-funded treatment that was prearranged, unless it is emergency medical treatment. Furthermore, you cannot study, cannot claim public funds, and cannot work in the labor market.