AN ANXIOUS couple are in "total shock" after finding they face a £4000 bill in order for them to stay living together in Scotland.

Tomi and Patrick Gilday from Paisley have been lumped with unexpected costs after the UK Government hiked the fees for the NHS immigration surcharge.

They have now launched an appeal to raise the funds afer worrying about where they would find the money.

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The NHS surcharge for immigrants has increased in the last year and now costs around £624 per year or £3,120 for a 5-year-visa - which is what the couple are applying for.

They are now facing a £4000 bill which Tomi said has come as a "total shock." She has been working in a veterinary practise for two years and paying full national insurance contributions.

Glasgow Times:

The couple met 'randomly' online in 2017. Patrick is Paisley born and bred and Tomi is originally from Virginia in the USA - however she estimates she has lived in 15 different states.

The pair exchanged thousands of texts, phone calls and daily video calls and they fell "ridiculously in love." Tomi took the risk and flew to Glasgow in 2018 to meet Patrick. She said: "I took the biggest risk of my life, and boarded a transatlantic flight. I walked off that plane at Glasgow Airport and into the arms of that Mad Scotsman.

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"I knew, instantly, the risk had been so worth it, and I was absolutely his from that moment on."

Tomi and Patrick married in 2019 in the USA and faced three months apart as Tomi waited on her UK Spouse Visa to be approved which Tomi revealed they spent £9000 on and landed themselves in 'massive debt.'

Glasgow Times:

She added: "We went into massive debt to pay the exorbitant application fees, solicitors fee, Immigration Health Surcharge for NHS, travel back and forth, on and on. All told, about £9000 was spent. "

Tomi's visa is now due for renewal in December.

Initially, the couple expected to pay £1200 for this. Tomi said: "This is what we planned for and saved up for. Additionally, they are requiring me to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge for the NHS."

Glasgow Times:

Tomi has described her panic as she and Patrick simply cannot afford the amount when lawyer's fees are factored in.

While Patrick's parents have offered to assist, his father has recently been diagnosed with terminal bone cancer which means the priorities have changed. Tomi said: "£4000 is a lot of money to come up with so that's what possessed me to write a plea in the middle of the night."

Having come from a military family, Tomi says she has "no home to go to" in the USA and now considers Paisley home. She said: "I love it here. I love the people here. The Scottish people have been so embracing of me." If the couple does not raise the cash in time to renew Tomi's visa, she faces having to go back to the USA.

The UK Government Home Office were not available for comment however on their website, it states the purpose of the surcharge was to "benefit the NHS, help care for the sick and save lives.

The website also stated: "This is why the government is delivering on its manifesto commitment to increase the Immigration Health Surcharge so that it is at a level that broadly reflects the cost of providing treatment."