How to apply for a Care Worker visa in UK?

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Many care homes and other medical providers may seek a solution to their recruitment problems. The lack of healthcare workers is wreaking havoc on hospitals and care homes nationwide in the wake of Brexit and Covid-19.

The government's response to this was the Health and Care visa. This attractive option offers quick entry (15 working days as opposed to the typical eight weeks for a Skilled Worker visa), lower visa fees, and an exemption from the Immigration Health Surcharge.

The Health and Care Worker visa, which was recently expanded to include a broader range of social care-related roles starting on February 15, 2022, enables medical professionals to travel to or remain in the UK to work in eligible positions with the NHS, an NHS supplier, or in adult social care.

Health and Care Worker Visa

Doctors, nurses, and other qualified health and adult social care professionals who want to work in the NHS, for an NHS supplier, or in adult social care are eligible for the Health and Care Worker Visa.

After five years, the Health and Care Worker Visa holders may settle in the UK, and their children and partners may accompany them.

Requirements for a Health and Care Worker Visa

To qualify for a Health and Care Worker Visa, you will need to satisfy UK Visas and Immigration:

• You are aged 18 or over;
• You are a qualified doctor, nurse, health professional or adult social care professional;
• You work or will work in an eligible health or social care job which falls within the list of approved occupation codes;
• You work or will work for a UK health and care sector employer that the Home Office has approved;
• You have a valid ‘certificate of sponsorship’ from your employer with information about the role you have been offered;
• You are competent in the English language to at least CEFR Level B1 (equivalent to IELTS 4.0);
• You will be paid the minimum salary or the ‘going rate for the type of work you will be doing, whichever is higher;
• You have enough money to support yourself without relying on public funds;
• You have provided a criminal record certificate if working with vulnerable people; and
• You have provided a valid TB certificate from a listed country.

So that you know – the exact requirements you must satisfy will vary depending on your circumstances.  You may want to speak to an immigration lawyer for expert advice.

Before applying for a Health and Care worker visa, you must have a job offer from a Home Office-approved sponsor.  As legal representatives, we cannot arrange job offers in the UK or sponsor visa applicants.

Health and Care Worker Visa Occupational Codes

The relevant Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Codes which meet the eligibility requirements for the Health and Care Worker visa are as follows:

• 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 that are ‘not elsewhere classified, such as audiologists and occupational health advisers
• 2221: physiotherapists
• 2222: occupational therapists
• 2223: speech and language therapists
• 2229: therapy professionals that are ‘not elsewhere classified, such as 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 and home carers
• 6146: senior care workers

Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) Requirement

To obtain a Health and Care Worker Visa, you must have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship for the job you plan to do. This is an electronic record rather than a physical document.

Your Certificate of Sponsorship will need to be issued by an employer that the Home Office authorises to sponsor the job under the Health and Care Worker route. 

The typical employer will be the NHS, an organisation providing medical services to the NHS, or an organisation providing adult social care. Where an employer is not currently approved, they can apply for a Sponsor Licence if eligible.

Your employer must include a brief explanation in the Certificate of Sponsorship stating how the employee meets the Health and Care Visa eligibility requirement. Where an employer is an organisation that provides services commissioned by the NHS, evidence of any contractual arrangements with the NHS may be required to be disclosed. 

Your Certificate of Sponsorship must have been issued not more than three months before your Health and Care Worker visa application date.

Your Certificate of Sponsorship must include certain mandatory information, including:

• Details of your name, job and salary;
• A start date which is no more than three months after the date your Health and Care Worker visa application;
• Confirmation that the Certificate of Sponsorship has not been used in a previous application which was either granted or refused and has not been withdrawn by the sponsor or cancelled by the Home Office;

Requirement for Immigration Skills Charge

Additionally, your employer must have fully paid any necessary immigration skills charges. The applicant needs to be eligible to receive this payment.

A sponsoring employer must pay the Immigration Skills Charge for each foreign worker they hope to hire.  Each time a sponsoring employer issues a Certificate of Sponsorship to a migrant, the Immigration Skills Charge is due.

The Immigration Skills Charge does not apply to chemical scientists (2111) or biological scientists and biochemists (2112).

Basic Wage Requirement

Employers looking to fill positions through the health and care worker route are typically required to pay their health and care workers at least £20,480 annually or the "going rate" for the position, whichever is higher. 

Every occupation code has a different yearly "going rate." Other pay bands for jobs within the NHS change depending on whether the job is in England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland. 

Different salary requirement

There are different salary requirements for those working in the following occupation codes:

• 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
• 3111: laboratory technicians
• 3216: dispensing opticians
• 3217: pharmaceutical technicians
• 6145: care workers and home carers
• 6146: senior care workers

If your job is in one of the above occupation codes, you will usually need to be paid at least £25,600 per year or £10.10 per hour, whichever is higher.  If the ‘going rate’ is higher than both, you will usually need to be paid at least the going rate.

You may be paid less than £25,600 or your job’s ‘going rate’ in the following circumstances (you must still be paid at least £10.10 per hour):

• You can be paid 80% of the usual going rate if your job is in a shortage occupation and your salary is at least £20,480 per year;
• You can be paid at 70% of the usual going rate if you are under 26, studying or a recent graduate, or in professional training towards a recognised UK qualification or registered status, and your salary is at least £20,480 per year;
• You can be paid at 80% of the usual going rate if you have a science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) PhD level qualification that’s relevant to your job as long as you will still earn at least £20,480 a year;
• You can be paid at 90% of the usual going rate if you have a non-STEM PhD level qualification as long as you will still earn your salary must be at least £23,040;
• You can be paid 70% of your usual going rate if you work in a postdoctoral position and your salary is at least £20,480 annually.

What is a ‘job in a shortage occupation’?

The Home Office maintains a list of skilled roles where employers need help to secure adequate numbers of workers with the required skills to fill their vacancies.  A separate list of shortage occupations for healthcare and education is on the Home Office website, including all medical practitioners, nurses, midwives, psychologists, speech and language therapists, medical radiographers, paramedics and social workers.  As explained above, the salary threshold requirement will be reduced if you have a job offer on the shortage occupation list.

English Language Requirement

To qualify for a Health and Care Worker visa, you will need to demonstrate English language ability on the Common European Framework of Reference scale (CEFR) for Languages in all four components (reading, writing, speaking and listening) to at least level B1 (intermediate).

Prospective employees applying for entry clearance or leave to remain as a Health and Care Worker will satisfy the English language requirement if they:

• Are a national of a majority English-speaking country;
• Have passed a Secure English Language Test from an approved provider;
• Have been awarded a degree-level academic qualification taught in English;
• Obtained a GCSE/A Level, Scottish National Qualification level 4 or 5, Scottish Highers or Advanced Higher in English while at school in the UK; or
• Have already shown they met the level B1 requirement in a previous successful application for entry clearance or permission to stay.

Suppose you are sponsored to work as a doctor, dentist, nurse or midwife. In that case, you do not need to prove your knowledge of English if you have already passed an English language assessment accepted by the relevant professional regulatory body. 

Financial Maintenance Requirement

Subject to the exemptions below, you must have cash funds of at least £1,270 available to show that you can support yourself in the UK.

You must have held the money for at least 28 consecutive days ending at most 31 days before your Health and Care Worker Visa application date.

If you are applying for permission to stay and have been in the UK with the authorisation for 12 months or more at the date of application, you will meet the financial requirement and will not need to show funds.

You will also be exempt if your employer can cover your costs during your first month in the UK to an amount of at least £1,270, if necessary.  Your sponsor must confirm this on your Certificate of Sponsorship by completing the ‘Sponsor certifies maintenance’ section.

Criminal Record Certificate Requirement

Suppose you are applying from outside the UK. In that case, you must provide a criminal record certificate unless your job is one of the following occupation codes: biological scientists and biochemists (2112) or physical scientists (2113).

• If you are under 28 years old and have lived in more than one country, you must provide a criminal record certificate for any country where you have stayed for 12 months or more since turning 18.
• If you are over 28, you must provide a criminal record certificate for any country you have stayed in over the last ten years.

Switching into the Health and Care Worker Visa Route

Suppose you currently have leave to remain in another immigration category. In that case, you may extend your stay by switching to the Health and Care Worker route unless you have, or were last granted, 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 of the Immigration Rules. 

Is there a cooling-off period in the Health and Care Worker route?

Under its predecessor route, those applying for entry clearance or switching to the Tier 2 (General) route had to have not been in the UK as a Tier 2 (General) migrant during the past 12 months.  Under the Skilled Worker route, which includes the Health and Care Worker route, the 12-month ‘cooling off period’ has been removed.  There is no restriction on when applications to enter the Health and Care Worker Visa route can be made.

Duration of a Health and Care Worker Visa

Suppose your application for a Health and Care Worker Visa is approved. In that case, you will be granted entry clearance or permission to stay for a period ending 14 days after the end date of your Certificate of Sponsorship (which may be up to a maximum of 5 years after the start date of your Certificate of Sponsorship). Your certificate of sponsorship will state for how long your employer is sponsoring you.

You can usually apply to extend your Health and Care Worker visa if you still meet the salary requirements and :

• You have the same job as when you were previously permitted to enter or stay in the UK; or
• Your job is in the same occupation code as when you were previously permitted to enter or stay in the UK; or
• You are working for the same employer who issued your current certificate of sponsorship. 

Is there a maximum time in the Health and Care Worker route?

Under the former Tier 2 (General) route, those applying for entry clearance or switching into the course had to satisfy a requirement to spend a maximum of six years. 

Under the Health and Care Worker route, the six-year maximum length of stay in the way has been removed. There is no restriction on the size of your visit, and you may be granted up to 5 years of leave at a time.  

Conditions of Stay as a Health and Care Worker

Health and Care Worker Visa holders are permitted to work in the job they have been sponsored for.  They may also undertake supplementary employment provided they continue to work in the position they are being funded, and the additional work is in the same occupation code or is less than 20 paid hours a week. 

You must apply for only some benefits or a State Pension.  You cannot change jobs or employers unless you update your visa.

You will need to apply to update your Health and Care Worker visa if you want to change your job and your new job is with a different employer; or your job changes to a foreign occupation code, and you are not in a graduate training programme; or if you leave a job that is on the shortage occupation list for a job that is not included on the list.

You must also update your visa if you work more than 20 hours a week or in a different occupation code. This will require a new certificate of sponsorship from your second employer and a letter explaining your reasons for changing your current permissions to stay. 

The settlement as a Health and Care Worker

In order to qualify for Settlement as a Health and Care Worker, you will need to satisfy UK Visas and Immigration the:

• You have spent a continuous period of 5 years in the UK;
• The 5-year continuous period consisted of time with permission on any of, or any combination of, the following routes: Health and Care Worker, Global Talent,  Innovator, Tier 2 Minister of Religion, Tier 2 Sportsperson, Representative of an Overseas Business or as a Tier 1 Migrant (other than as a Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) Migrant);
• You have not been outside for more than 180 days during each year of the 5-year continuous period;
• You have passed the Life in the UK test (unless aged 65 or over); 
• Your sponsor is still a Home Office-approved sponsor;
• Your sponsor still requires you to work for them for the foreseeable future;
• You will be paid at least the general salary threshold or the going rate requirement for the foreseeable future, whichever is higher.

Application Fees and Fee Reduction

Individuals applying for the Health and Care Visa will pay reduced application fees where their employer has confirmed on their Certificate of Sponsorship that they meet the eligibility criteria of the route.  The reduction of costs also applies to partners and dependants. The fee reduction should operate automatically through the online application process.

The published fees, in effect from 01 December 2020, are the same for entry clearance applications made outside of the UK and leave-to-remain applications made within the UK, including applications to switch into this category. 

• Where a Certificate of Sponsorship has been issued for you to stay in the UK for three years or less, the fee is £247.
• Where a Certificate of Sponsorship has been issued for you to stay in the UK for three years or more, the fee is £479. 

This fee will be automatically reduced by £55 if you are a national of Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden or Turkey. This reduction only applies to the applicant – partners and dependants must pay the full application fee.

Exemption from Immigration Health Surcharge

Health and Care Worker visa applicants and their dependents are exempt from paying the Immigration Health Charge.

Fast track Entry & Expedited Visa Processing Times 

The Home Office published guidance states that UK Visas and Immigration will prioritise Health and Care visa applications, with the aim that the vast majority are processed within three weeks from the date biometrics are taken.

Dependants of Health and Care Workers

Health and Care Workers may be joined or accompanied by a dependent partner over the age of 18 and or a dependent child under the age of 18. 

The Health and Care Worker visa fee reduction applies to partners and children applying as dependants of Health and Care Visa applicants, as does the exemption from Immigration Health Charges.

Here are some of the services we offer to help you obtain a work visa in the UK