A major crackdown on health tourism means foreign patients will be made to pay upfront before they receive non-urgent care at NHS hospitals.
From April overseas patients could be refused operations not deemed immediately necessary unless they can pay in advance.
Hospitals will be legally obliged to charge them upfront for operations that include hip or knee surgery, cataract removals and operations to remove hernias.
If patients are unable to cover costs it will be up to individual NHS trusts to work out, based on clinical need, whether they demand an upfront payment or agree to a longer-term payment plan.
It is thought some trusts will check eligibility by asking overseas patients to produce two forms of identification - including one showing a UK address.
The rules will not apply to any treatment considered potentially life-saving or immediately necessary, including maternity care.
The announcement comes following recent headlines about the cost of tourists using the NHS.
Last week a damning report by the Public Accounts Committee warned that the Department of Health was failing to recover hundreds of millions of pounds.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "We have no problem with overseas visitors using our NHS - as long as they make a fair contribution, just as the British taxpayer does.”
Mr Hunt added the aim was to recover up to £500m a year by the middle of this Parliament to reinvest in the NHS.
Last week, a BBC documentary Hospital, featured overseas patients who are unable to pay their medical bills.
