The Health and Care Visa is for foreign medical professionals who want to work for the NHS, an NHS supplier, or the adult social care sector in the United Kingdom. Health and Care Visa holders are exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge and pay reduced visa application fees.

The Health and Care Visa is valid for up to five years; visa holders may extend their Health and Care visa an unlimited number of times as long as they meet the eligibility requirements. They may be entitled to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after spending at least five years if they would like to settle in the UK on this visa.

Who is eligible for Health and Care Worker visa?

The Health and Care Visa is restricted to qualified doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals who will work in eligible positions in the UK health sector. In addition to satisfying the occupational requirement, an applicant must meet a variety of other requirements:

• Applicants will be employed in one of the eligible occupations in the health or social care sector
• They have a job offer from a UK employer who has been approved by the Home Office.
• They have a Certificate of Sponsorship from their UK employer that provides information about the role they have been offered.
• They need to satisfy the English requirement to work as medical professionals.
• Depending on the type of role, they need to meet the salary requirements

Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) for a Health and Care Worker

Applicants must show that they will work or work for a Home Office-approved employer in the UK health and care sector. The typical employer will be the National Health Service, an organisation providing medical services to the NHS or an adult social care organisation. If an employer is not currently approved, they can apply for a Sponsor License.

When applicants are applying for Health and care route, the employer must explain briefly how the applicant meets the Health and Care Worker requirements. If the employer is a medical services provider for the NHS, they may also be required to give evidence of their contract with the NHS.

Specific Salary Requirement

The general minimum salary required for the Health and Care Worker route is £25,600 per year or £10.10 per hour. If the going rate (market rate) for the job role is higher, the minimum wage will exceed this amount.

Each occupation code has its own going rate, and the salary offer should meet at least the going rate for the job role. For example, if the annual pay is £26,000, but the going rate for the occupation is £30,000, the salary should be at least £30,000 to meet the minimum salary requirement.

In certain circumstances, the annual salary requirement is less than £25,600. The salary can be less than this if any of the following conditions apply:

• The job role is on the Shortage Occupation List
• The applicant is under the age of 26, a student or recent graduate, or in professional training
• They have a relevant STEM PhD qualification
• They hold a postdoctoral appointment in a scientific function

If any of the above conditions apply, an applicant may be paid between 70 to 90% of the going rate for the job, providing an annual salary is at least £20,480. If an applicant has a relevant PhD degree, their salary can be £23,040 per year.

Other Requirement

When applying for a Health and Care Worker Visa, applicants must provide certain documents and information to demonstrate that they can satisfy the requirements. They need to provide:

• Proof of knowledge of English – this may be the Secure English Language Test (SELT) results or proof of an eligible academic qualification taught in English. As a doctor, dentist, nurse, or a midwife, they have already passed an English language assessment accepted by the relevant professional regulatory body. 
• If they are applying from outside the UK, they may also need to submit a criminal record certificate, unless their job is one of the following occupation codes: biological scientists and biochemists (2112) or physical scientists (2113).
• The tuberculosis test results if they are from a country where the test is required.
• Financial maintenance evidence that they have enough personal savings to support themselves in the UK. They will need to have cash funds of at least £1,270 available to show that they can support themselves in the UK. They will need evidence that they have held these funds for at least 28 consecutive days ending no more than 31 days before the date of the visa application.
• They need to provide documents proving the relationship with the family if they plan to bring eligible family members to the UK.

Switching into the Health and care Worker visa inside the UK

If other visa holders want to switch to the Health and care worker visa route, they need to have a valid immigration category. They may extend their stay by switching to the Health and Care Worker route unless they have permission as a Visitor, Short-term student, Parent of a Child Student, Seasonal Worker, Domestic Worker in a Private Household, are on Immigration Bail, or have leave to remain in the UK outside the Immigration Rules.

For experienced advice and support with an application for a UK Health and Care Worker visa, please contact us at 0203 865 6219 or send a message.