Guidance – Temporary Patient Registration and Overseas Visitors FAQs

This page includes answers to the most common queries we receive from practices about temporary patient registration and overseas visitors, plus links to sources of further information.

Who can register as a temporary resident?

What are the circumstances that a patient can register as a temporary resident?

Can a practice charge people in this position?

When can a practice refuse a temporary resident?

What should a practice do if the person doesn’t have a fixed address?

What if the person is from abroad / outside the EU?

What happens if a practice needs to refer a patient to secondary care? Do overseas visitors have to pay for this?

When should a patient be moved to permanent registration?

Further information

Anyone, regardless of their country of residence, is entitled to receive NHS primary medical services at a GP practice. This means tourists, or those from abroad visiting friends or family in England, should be treated in the same way as a UK resident. It also means GP practices cannot charge for this.

Patients should be registered as temporary if they intend to reside in the practice area for more than one day but less than three months. Less than 24 hours, they should be treated as requiring “Immediate and Necessary treatment”. If the patient intends to reside in the practice area for longer than 3 months, they should be permanently registered.

Practices are not permitted to charge temporary residents or overseas patients – including tourists – for registering or consulting with a GP.

GPs have limited discretion to decline to register patients. A GP can only refuse to register a patient if their list is closed to new patients, if the patient lives outside the practice boundary, or if other reasonable grounds for the refusal exist. Lack of identification or proof of address are not considered valid reasons. In the event that a practice does refuse a patient’s application, their name, date and reason for the refusal should be recorded. The practice must give the patient a written explanation of the refusal within 14 days. We would always advise practices contact the LMC for support if they are considering refusing a temporary registration due to the limited reasons to do this.

Practices are not contractually obliged to ask for proof of address. While practices may ask for proof of address for practical reasons, a patient’s inability to provide this would not be a sufficient reason to refuse their registration. So, if a patient claims to reside within the practice area but is unable to prove this, the practice must register the patient in the absence of evidence to the contrary.

A person’s nationality or immigration status make no difference; any person in the UK is able to register with a GP practice and receive NHS primary medical services free of charge. Practice staff do not have to make any assessment of immigration status or eligibility for non-primary NHS care. Practice staff are not expected to act as immigration officials.

NHS England guidelines advise GPs to refer patients for secondary services on clinical grounds alone; it is the receiving organisation, not the GP, who is to assess a patient’s eligibility for free secondary care.

The regulations surrounding entitlement and who is exempt from charges for secondary care are complex. Not all patients have a right to free secondary care, and relevant NHS bodies such as hospitals are required to make reasonable enquiries to identify whether a patient is eligible for free NHS care. Patients who are not ordinarily resident in the UK are classed as ‘overseas visitors’. If they or the service they access are not exempt under the regulations, they are liable to pay for treatment they receive.

There are a range of services which are exempt from charges irrespective of the residency status of the patient. This includes accident and emergency services, diagnosis and treatment of communicable diseases such as TB, and diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.

If the patient intends to reside in the practice area for longer than three months, they should be registered as permanent.

If a patient is an overseas visitor intending to stay for longer than three months, see the BMA guidance on registration of overseas visitors.

Safe Surgeries Toolkit – Doctors of the World guide to how to make general practice safe for everyone.

BMA – access to healthcare for overseas visitors – comprehensive guidance from the BMA.

MDU – treating overseas visitors in primary care – overview and FAQs.

Wessex LMCs – FAQs on treating overseas patients.