Concerns about EU migrants’ use of public healthcare services in the UK are widespread. The assumption is that high quality free universal healthcare provision in the UK attracts migrants and allows potential abuse of the system. This research examines migrants’ perceptions and preferences around healthcare, and our findings suggest that these assumptions are often unfounded, with migrants’ preferring to have medical treatment in their country of origin, where they often perceive the standard of healthcare to be higher than that of the UK.