British Health Fee Adds Barrier for Foreign Students The British government recently announced a proposal to introduce health care access fees for migrants and long-term visitors this year. The fees would affect some foreign students, who would for the first time have to pay for medical cover while in Britain. The proposal, published on Dec. 30, is part of an immigration bill now going through Parliament and does not expressly target students. But concerns are being voiced that it would set up yet another hurdle for international access to the British education system - one of the most prestigious in the world. "As a matter of principle, the levy is unfortunate and unfair," said Dominic Scott, chief executive of the UK Council for International Student Affairs, the national advisory body for international students in Britain. Foreign students who need to apply for visas - those from countries outside the European Union - will have to pay 150 pounds, or roughly $250, per year of study when they are issued their visa, according to the plan laid out by the Department of Health. The proposed charge is relatively minor compared with tuition and other costs that for a foreign student in Britain can easily reach £20,000 a year. Critics of the plan concede that it is unlikely, by itself, to turn many away. Still, they warn that it will add to a cumulative message that is increasingly unwelcoming. It comes during an often strident populist campaign for tighter immigration curbs and less than two years after the government eliminated a visa track, known as Tier-1 (post-study work), that allowed newly graduated foreigners to stay in Britain to work. "Tier 1 was the hammer blow, but it's just possible that people will see this as one damned thing after another," Mr. Scott said. Daniel Stevens, the international students" officer at the National Union of Students, the country's largest student union, agreed: "You will see a shift in the attitude of international students toward other countries," he said. Daniel Obst, deputy vice president of the Institute of International Education, in New York, said he thought it highly unlikely that the fee would cut the number of students going to Britain. Still, "every time you have a new regulation, there is concern," he said. You have to deal with the perceptions issue. Britain has long been a popular destination for study, and in recent years the trend has been strongly upward. In 2011, the last year for which comprehensive figures are available, it hosted nearly 420,000 international post-secondary students, including more than 290,000 from outside the European Union, according to data from Unesco. That was about 100,000 more in total - and 74,000 more non-European Union students - than were counted in a similar survey in 2005. "Students that want to come to the U.K. will continue to come," Mr. Obst said. The Department of Health says it researched its proposed fees to ensure they were competitive compared with charges in other education destinations. University recruiters also point out that other popular destinations, notably the United States, have always charged foreign students for health care. "A British student going to the U.S. is going to have to pay for medical coverage too," said Shaun Curtis, director of international affairs at Exeter University. The proposed £150 a year may be seen as a drop in the bucket alongside tuition that, for a foreign student, can exceed £10,000 a year and living costs that can run around £800 a month (depending on the location), not to mention visa application costs of £400. International students who apply for a visa also need to show a bank balance with enough funds to cover the year. "International students, or their parents, tend to be quite affluent," Dr. Curtis said. The Department of Health says the changes to how it charges users for health care will help recoup in total some £500 million yearly. "Having a universal health service free at the point of use rightly makes us the envy of the world, but we must make sure the system is fair to the hard-working British taxpayers who fund it," Lord Howe, a junior health minister, said when he announced the plan. Still, while the added cost may be insignificant for a single student on a three-year bachelor's degree course, the cost for a graduate student with dependents could be substantial. "If you are a Ph.D. student, you could actually find yourself paying £2,400 at a point of entry," said Mr. Stevens of the student union. Yet Dr. Curtis of Exeter University said he expected British universities to retain their allure. "Our international population has increased significantly year on year, despite all the recent scare stories," he said.