Health and Care Visa Guide 2024

health and care worker visa

IN THIS SECTION

The Health and Care Visa is for healthcare professionals and workers from around the world to come to work in the UK health and social care sector.

For applicants, the benefits of the Health and Care Worker visa include fast-tracked entry to the UK, together with reduced visa fees and exemption from the Immigration Health Surcharge. It also includes the support of a dedicated UKVI application processing team.

Following proposals announced in December 2023,  from 11 March 2024 Health and Care Worker visa holders are no longer permitted to bring dependants with them to the UK.

In this guide, we look at the key requirements for the Health and Care visa, including eligibility criteria and the application process, Health & Care visa costs and processing times.

Please note, DavidsonMorris can assist once an applicant has secured an offer of employment. We are not able to sponsor candidates.

 

What is the Health and Care visa?

The Health and Care visa is for overseas workers with specialist skills to come to the UK to work for licensed employers in eligible roles. The visa is open to specific healthcare professionals including doctors, registered nurses, pharmacists, as well as adult social care workers.

The visa is designed to help address skills crisis within UK healthcare sector, by offering an attractive route for foreign nationals to come to the UK for work, with the potential to settle in the UK permanently.

Successful applicants can work in the UK for a period of up to five years and can apply to extend their visa as many time as they like, provided they remain eligible.

Health and Care visa holders can also become eligible to apply for UK indefinite leave to remain after five years. With ILR status, you are no longer subject to UK immigration control, and you are no longer restricted by visa sponsorship rules, meaning you can change employers and job without the need to apply for additional visas.

 

Who is eligible for the Health and Care visa?

Qualified doctors, nurses, health professionals and adult social care professionals are eligible to apply for the Health and Care Worker visa.

It is open to individuals applying under the skilled worker route for entry clearance or leave to remain who and will be taking up a job offer in one of the occupations specified within a prescribed list of Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes.

Before you can determine if your occupation is eligible, you must have its four-digit occupation code.

If you already have a job offer, you should ask your employer for the occupation code.

The list of eligible professions is subject to change, and at present includes the following:

 

4-digit SOC code

Eligible job roles

1181 Health services and public health managers and directors
1242 Residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors
2112 Biological scientists and biochemists
2113 Physical scientists
2211 Medical practitioners
2212 Psychologists
2213 Pharmacists
2214 Ophthalmic opticians
2215 Dental practitioners
2217 Medical radiographers
2218 Podiatrists
2219 Health professionals not elsewhere classified eg audiologists and occupational health advisers
2221 Physiotherapists
2222 Occupational therapists
2223 Speech and language therapists
2229 Therapy professionals not elsewhere classified eg osteopaths and psychotherapists
2231 Nurses
2232 Midwives
2442 Social workers
3111 Laboratory technicians
3213 Paramedics
3216 Dispensing opticians
3217 Pharmaceutical technicians
3218 Medical and dental technicians
3219 Health associate professionals not elsewhere classified
6141 Nursing auxiliaries and assistants
6143 Dental nurses
6145 Care workers & home carers
6146 Senior care workers

 

As well as the role coming under one of the above SOC categories, to qualify for the visa an applicant must also have been offered employment from a licenced sponsor. The sponsoring organisation must also either be an NHS body or trust, a medical services provider to the NHS, an organisation providing adult social care, or one of several other medical and social care organisations listed in the official guidance. This could include, for example, someone who is employed or engaged by, or registered with one of the following industry bodies:

  • General Chiropractic Council
  • General Dental Council
  • General Medical Council
  • General Optical Council
  • General Osteopathic Council
  • General Pharmaceutical Council
  • Health and Care Professions Council
  • Northern Ireland Social Care Council
  • Nursing and Midwifery Council
  • Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland
  • Scottish Social Services Council
  • Social Care Wales

 

If your UK sponsor is a private organisation that provides healthcare services commissioned by the NHS, an explanation, and possibly documentary evidence, as to the contractual arrangements with the NHS will also need to be provided as proof of your eligibility for a Health and Care Worker visa.

New rules introduced with effect from 11 March 2024 also require that care providers in England applying to sponsor migrant workers will need to be registered by the Care Quality Commission. This requirement will not apply retrospectively; care workers already in the route will be able to extend their permission with the same sponsor, and settle, without the CQC regulation requirement applying to them.

 

 

Health and Care visa or Skilled Worker visa?

While the Skilled Worker visa open to workers in eligible occupations across many areas of the economy, the Health and Care Worker Visa is specifically limited to medical professionals and individuals working in eligible health and care roles.

If you are not taking up a job role in one of the prescribed occupations for a designated organisation, you will not be eligible for the new Health and Care visa, although it remains open to applicants who fall outside the visa requirements to apply under the Skilled Worker visa, provided they meet the visa criteria.

There are many advantages to the Health and Care route over the Skilled Worker visa, including fast-tracked processing of visa applications, lower application fees and an exemption from the Immigration Health Surcharge.

 

What are the Health and Care Worker visa requirements?

The Health and Care visa applicants have to meet all the relevant criteria under the Skilled Worker visa route, which are:

  • Have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) from a UK licensed sponsor
  • Have the offer of a qualifying job that meets the relevant salary threshold
  • In some cases, to have sufficient personal savings so that you can support yourself on arrival in the UK
  • Have a good working knowledge of the English language
  • Be able to show that you can travel, as well as providing your travel history over the preceding 5 years
  • Have valid tuberculosis test results, if you are from a listed country
  • Be able to provide a criminal record certificate from any country where you have lived for 12 months or more within the last 10 years, if you will be working with vulnerable people as a healthcare professional.

 

As a prospective employee, your new employer will be responsible for informing you that you are eligible for the Health and Care Worker visa. In this way, you will be able to correctly complete the visa application form. Your employer will also need to provide a brief explanation in the note field of the CoS setting out how you will meet the eligible visa role requirement in your new job.

 

Health and care worker visa minimum salary

As part of the eligibility criteria, you will need to meet the salary requirement. This means you must be paid either at least the minimum salary threshold or the appropriate ‘going rate’ for the job you have been offered, whichever is higher. Every eligible role is assigned a going rate by the Home Office.

Typically, you will be required to earn at least £26,200 per year, or £10.75 per hour. If the going rate for your role is greater than both of these, you will be required to be paid at least the going rate.

For example, if the salary of the role is £25,000 per year but the going rate for the role is £26,800, you would not meet the salary requirement.

In some cases, you may still be able to apply for a Health and Care visa even if your salary is lower than the required level. The rules allow you to be paid between 70% – 90% of the going rate for your position if you earn at least £20,480 annually and one of the following applies:

  • You have an offer for a job in a shortage occupation
  • You are under 26 and are studying, a recent graduate or in professional training
  • You have a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) PhD relevant to the job you have been offered
  • Your role is a postdoctoral, scientific position

 

Maintenance requirement

Some applicants will also have to evidence that they can financially support themselves. If you are applying from overseas, you must prove you have had £1,270 in your bank account for at least 28 consecutive days. Day 28 must be within 31 days of the date you applied for your visa.

You will be exempt from this financial requirement if you are applying from within the UK and have held a valid visa for at least 12 months, or, if your sponsor is A-rated, it may submit a letter of support confirming they can cover your costs for the first month you are in the country.

 

English language requirement

Unless you are exempt, for example, because you are a national of a majority English-speaking country, to prove your knowledge of English you will usually need to show that you have passed an approved English language test with at least CEFR level B1 in reading, writing, speaking and listening, or have an academic qualification that was taught in English and is recognised by UK NARIC as being equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or PhD.

If you are applying as a doctor, dentist, nurse or midwife, you will be able to rely on the assessment of your professional body as proof of your language ability.

 

How to apply for the Health and Care Worker visa

To apply for the Health and Care visa you will first need to be assigned a CoS by your UK sponsor. This is a unique reference number which you use to apply online on the Home Office website.

Once you have completed all the relevant information, the next stage of the application process is to pay the appropriate fee (see below). You will also need to provide various documents in support of your application.

On receipt of the application, the Home Office will assess the information and documents and you may be offered to either:

  • book a biometrics appointment if is not possible to reuse any biometrics supplied with a previous application, or
  • you will be advised how to enrol biometrics using an ID app.

 

Health and Care Worker visa supporting documents

As with any UK visa application, you will need to provide various documents and information in support including, where relevant, the following:

  • A current, valid passport or travel document to prove you can travel
  • Any expired passports or travel documents to show your travel history
  • Your Certificate of Sponsorship (reference number) from your employer
  • Your employer’s name and sponsor licence reference number
  • Job details including job title, SOC code and salary
  • A statement or letter from your bank or building society showing you have enough personal savings, unless your CoS shows your A-rated sponsor can support you instead
  • Proof of your knowledge of English
  • Your tuberculosis test results if you are from a listed country
  • A criminal record certificate, unless your role is exempt
  • If you are applying with dependants, proof of your relationship such as your marriage certificate for your spouse and birth certificates for your children

 

Can my partner or dependants join me in the UK?

Following a government announcement in December 2023, Health and Care Worker visa holders will no longer be permitted to bring family members with them to the UK under the dependant visa route with effect from 11 March 2024.

This rules does not apply retrospectively to workers already in the UK under this route; immediate family members of sponsored care workers already in the UK remain eligible to accompany or join the primary visa holder. This includes their spouse or partner, and any dependent children.

If you are already in the UK and would like your dependants to join you, your UK sponsor will need to provide written confirmation that your family member is eligible to do so based on your occupation. This should be in the form of a letter or email from the sponsor, setting out the organisation for which you work, and, if not an NHS body, how the organisation qualifies.

 

What are the Health and Care Worker visa costs?

The Health and Care visa comes with a reduced visa application fee compared to that paid by other skilled workers.

The fees apply to applicants and dependents and are the same for leave to enter the UK or to remain in the UK, to those who qualify under this visa.

 

Fees for Health and Care Worker visa applications made outside the UK

Skilled Worker – Health and Care Visa – where a certificate of sponsorship has been issued for three years or less – main applicant and dependants £284
Skilled Worker – Health and Care Visa – where a certificate of sponsorship has been issued for over three years – main applicant and dependants £551
Skilled Worker – Shortage Occupation – Health and Care Visa – where a certificate of sponsorship has been issued for three years or less – main applicant and dependants £284
Skilled Worker – Shortage Occupation – Health and Care Visa – where a certificate of sponsorship has been issued for over three years – main applicant and dependants £551

 

Fees for Health and Care visa applications made within the UK

Skilled Worker – Health and Care Worker Visa – where a certificate of sponsorship has been issued for three years or less – main applicant and dependants £284
Skilled Worker – Health and Care Visa – where a certificate of sponsorship has been issued for over three years -main applicant and dependants £551
Skilled Worker – Shortage Occupation – Health and Care Visa – where a certificate of sponsorship has been issued for three years or less – main applicant and dependants £284
Skilled Worker – Shortage Occupation – Health and Care Visa – where a certificate of sponsorship has been issued for over three years – main applicant and dependants £551

 

The reduced visa fees also apply to dependants.

Applicants and dependants who are eligible to apply under this visa are exempt from having to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge.

Frontline workers in the health and social care sector who are not eligible for the new Health and Care Visa will pay the Immigration Health Surcharge but should benefit from a reimbursement scheme. This is in recognition of the contribution of those who have come to the UK to work during the pandemic.

 

What are the Health and Care visa processing times?

Upon receipt, your application for the Health and Care Worker visa will be prioritised and fast-tracked by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI).

As a result, the vast majority of healthcare professionals applying on this route can usually expect a decision on their application within 3 weeks from the date they provide their biometric information. This is substantially quicker than the current timeframe for skilled worker visa processing, which can be between 8-20 weeks. However, UKVI processing does continue to be subject to delays following the pandemic and prioritisation of Ukrainian scheme applications, so it is recommended to take advice on current processing times when making your application.

Support is also available by way of a dedicated NHS support and visa processing team, enabling visa applicants and sponsors to contact UKVI’s specialist team if they have any issues with the application process or eligibility for the Health and Care visa.

 

Taking on additional work or a second job

Sponsored workers are permitted to take on additional work or employment, provided they remain employed in their sponsored role and that the relevant conditions are met. In some cases, you may also need to update your visa with the Home Office, submitting a letter with your application detailing why you want to change your current permission to stay. You can then be assigned a new CoS. Whether or not you need to update your visa depends on how many hours a week you’ll be working and the type of work you’re doing.

 

When you don’t need to update your visa

Under the current rules, as a Health & Care worker you can work an unlimited number of hours without having to update their visa if the work is overtime for the job they are sponsored for, or if they are working ‘bank shifts’ for their NHS sponsor.

You can take on up to 20 hours of additional work for a different employer to your sponsor, or on a self-employed basis, without having to update your visa if the work falls within the same occupational code as the role you are sponsored for, or if the work is for a shortage occupation role.

In summary, Health and Care Workers will not need to update their visa if:

  • Their additional work also qualifies as an occupation under the Health and Care Worker route – in which case, there are no restrictions on the hours they can work in this role.
  • The additional work is overtime for their sponsored role or is work undertaken as ‘bank shifts’ for their NHS sponsor.
  • Their additional job is on the Shortage Occupation List – in which case, they can work up to 20 hours a week without having to update their visa.
  • Their additional job is an unpaid, voluntary role.

 

When you do need to update your visa

If the additional work is for more than 20 hours per week, your visa will need to be updated.

If the additional work is for less than 20 hours per week, but it is in a different occupational code to the primary sponsored work, or if the work has the same occupational code but is at a different level, you will need to update your visa.

 

Changing jobs with a Health and Care visa

Health and Care workers have to notify the Home Office when they change jobs or employer by applying to update their visa.

Specifically, you have to update your visa if:

  • You are starting a new job with a new employer
  • You are starting a new job which has a different occupation code to what is on your Certificate of Sponsorship and you are not working as part of a graduate training programme
  • You will no longer be working in a shortage occupation role – this refers to you leaving a job which is on the shortage list, and starting a job which is not on the list. It does not refer to when a role is taken on the shortage list by the government.

 

Can you extend your Health and Care Visa?

Health and Care visas are granted for up to five years. To remain in the UK lawfully, you may need to apply to extend your visa before it expires.

You can apply for an extension provided you continue to be eligible under the visa requirements. This means that you continue to be employed by the same sponsor that issued your current Certificate of Sponsorship, that you are still employed in the same role with the same occupation code as per your previous visa application, and that you continue to satisfy the salary threshold requirement.

After 5 years in the UK, rather than applying to extend your status, you may wish to apply to settle under Indefinite Leave to Remain.

If your family are with you in the UK with dependant visas, they too will need to apply for an extension and show they continue to be eligible as dependants, or apply for ILR, before their visa expires.

 

Applying for ILR with a Health and Care visa

Health and Care workers who have lived in the UK for five years under the visa, or in combination with other permitted work visa categories, can become eligible to apply for ILR. You will be able to include time spent with lawful status under any combination of the following visas:

  • Any Tier 1 visa – except Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur)
  • Skilled Worker or Tier 2 (General)
  • Health and Care
  • Scale-up Worker
  • T2 Minister of Religion or Tier 2 (Minister of Religion)
  • International Sportsperson, T2 Sportsperson or Tier 2 (Sportsperson)
  • Innovator
  • Global Talent
  • Representative of an Overseas Business

 

Your qualifying period begins on the date your initial application for entry clearance or leave to remain was approved. You can apply for ILR 28 days before the 5-year qualifying period expires.

Health and Care workers use application form SET (O) to apply for ILR. You will need to show that you meet the UK ILR requirements, which include:

  • Living and working in the UK for a minimum of five years immediately preceding the date of your application
  • Spending no more than 180 days outside the UK in any consecutive 12 month period during the qualifying five-year period of UK residence
  • Continuing to be sponsored by your employer
  • Continuing to be meet the minimum salary threshold
  • Passing the Life in the UK test
  • Meeting the English language requirement
  • Not failing under the general grounds for refusal

 

Do you have a question about the Health and Care Visa?

DavidsonMorris have a specialist team dedicated to supporting applications for the Health and Care visa. For advice, please contact us.

 

Health and Care visa FAQs

Who is eligible for health and care visa?

The Health and Care visa is open to healthcare and adult social care workers with an eligible job offer for an authorised sponsor.

Does the NHS offer visa sponsorship?

NHS organisations can sponsor workers provided they have a valid sponsorship licence and that the visa conditions are met by the worker and the role.

How much is UK Health care visa?

The cost of the Health and Care visa depends on how long you will working in the UK for. For example, if the worker is applying from overseas and the Certificate of Sponsorship is being issued for 3 years, the Health and Care Visa application costs £284.

What is the minimum salary for health and care visa UK?

You have to earn at least £26,200 per year or £10.75 per hour. If the 'going rate' for your position is greater than both of these, you will need to be paid at least the going rate.

Can a dependent apply for a Health care visa in UK?

From Spring 2024, Health and Care workers will no longer be able to be joined by family members as visa dependants.

Do health workers pay the healthcare surcharge?

Health and care workers are exempt from the UK Immigration Health Surcharge.

Are care workers eligible for the Health & Care visa?

Only workers employed in eligible roles are eligible for the Health and Care visa. Carers were added to the Shortage Occupation List in February 2022, but this status remains subject to government review and change.

 

Last updated: 7 January 2024

About DavidsonMorris

As employer solutions lawyers, DavidsonMorris offers a complete and cost-effective capability to meet employers’ needs across UK immigration and employment law, HR and global mobility.

Led by Anne Morris, one of the UK’s preeminent immigration lawyers, and with rankings in The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners, we’re a multi-disciplinary team helping organisations to meet their people objectives, while reducing legal risk and nurturing workforce relations.

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