A Health and Care Worker visa allows medical professionals to come to or stay in the UK to do an eligible job with the NHS, an NHS supplier or in adult social care.

Eligibility

Your job

To qualify for a Health and Care Worker visa, you must:

• be a qualified doctor, nurse, health professional or adult social care professional
• work in an eligible health or social care job
• work for a UK employer that’s been approved by the Home Office
• have a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ from your employer with information about the role you’ve been offered in the UK
• be paid a minimum salary – how much depends on the type of work you do

Knowledge of English

You must be able to speak, read, write and understand English. You’ll usually need to prove your knowledge of English when you apply.

How long you can stay

Your visa can last for up to 5 years before you need to extend it. You’ll need to apply to extend or update your visa when it expires or if you change jobs or employer.

If you want to stay longer in the UK

You can apply to extend your visa as many times as you like as long as you still meet the eligibility requirements.

After 5 years, you may be able to apply to settle permanently in the UK (also known as ‘indefinite leave to remain’). This gives you the right to live, work and study here for as long as you like, and apply for benefits if you’re eligible.

How to apply

You must apply online.

How you apply depends on whether you’re:

• outside the UK and are coming to the UK
• inside the UK and extending your current visa
• inside the UK and switching from a different visa

If you want to change your job or employer, you must apply to update your visa.

You can include your partner and children in your application to stay in the UK if they are eligible.

How long it takes

You can apply for a visa up to 3 months before the day you are due to start work in the UK. This date is listed on your certificate of sponsorship.

As part of your application, you’ll need to prove your identity and provide your documents.

You may need to allow extra time if you need an appointment to do this. You’ll find out if you need one when you start your application.

Getting a decision

Once you’ve applied online, proved your identity and provided your documents, you’ll usually get a decision on your visa within 3 weeks.

You may be able to pay to get a faster decision. How you do this depends on whether you’re outside the UK or inside the UK.

How much it costs

You, your partner or children will each need to:

• pay the application fee
• prove you have enough personal savings

Healthcare surcharge

You – and your partner or children – will not have to pay the healthcare surcharge.

What you can and cannot do

You can:

• work in an eligible job
• take on additional work in certain circumstances
• do voluntary work
• study
• bring your partner and children with you as your ‘dependants’, if they’re eligible
• travel abroad and return to the UK
• apply to settle permanently in the UK (also known as ‘indefinite leave to remain’) if you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years and meet the other eligibility requirements

You cannot:

• apply for most benefits (public funds), or the State Pension
• change jobs or employer unless you update your visa

If your application is successful, you’ll get a full list of what you can and cannot do with a Health and Care Worker visa.

You must meet all of the following requirements to be eligible for a Health and Care Worker visa:

• you’re a qualified doctor, nurse, health professional or adult social care professional
• your job is eligible for this visa
• you’ll be working for a UK health and care sector employer that’s been approved by the Home Office
• you’ll be paid the minimum salary or the ‘going rate’ for the type of work you’ll be doing – whichever is higher

Check if your job is eligible

Before you can find out if your job is eligible, you need to know its 4-digit occupation code.

Look up your job’s occupation code

If you do not know your code, you can search for your job in the ONS occupation coding tool.

Not every job title is included. If you cannot find your exact job title, try searching for similar jobs.

Make sure the job description matches what you’ll be doing. Some jobs in the same area of practice have different codes, for example dentists and dental hygiene therapists.

Check if an occupation code is eligible for this visa

Your job must be in one of the following occupation codes to qualify for the Health and Care Worker visa:

• 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

Approved UK health and care sector employers

You must have a job offer from an approved UK employer before you apply for a Health and Care Worker visa. Approved employers are also known as sponsors, because they are sponsoring you to come to or stay in the UK.

You must have a job offer from:

• the NHS
• an organisation providing medical services to the NHS
• an organisation providing adult social care

Read the guidance to see a full list of eligible employers.

If your employer is not currently approved, they can apply for a sponsor licence if they’re eligible.

They’ll need to pay a fee – £536 for small businesses and charities or £1,476 for medium and large organisations. It usually takes around 8 weeks to process a licence application.

If you already have a job offer from an approved employer

Your employer – also known as your sponsor – will check that you meet the eligibility requirements. They’ll give you a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ to prove this.

The certificate of sponsorship is an electronic record, not a physical document. It will have a reference number, which you’ll need for your visa application.

You must apply for your visa within 3 months of getting your certificate of sponsorship.

Check which documents you’ll need to apply.

Salary requirements

You’ll usually need to be paid at least £20,480.

If the ‘going rate’ for your job is higher than £20,480, you’ll usually need to be paid at least the going rate.

Each occupation code has its own annual going rate. How you find the going rate depends on your job.

When you need to meet different salary requirements

You’ll need to meet different salary requirements for this visa if your job is in one of the 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

Find out the going rate if your job is in one of these occupation codes – including when you can earn less.

If you’re doing any other health and care job

Check how much you’ll need to earn in the table of national pay scales for eligible healthcare jobs.

Salaries are listed by NHS pay band and area of the UK you’ll be working in. Ask your employer if you’re not sure what your role or pay band will be.

You’ll need to meet different salary requirements for this visa if your job is in one of 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

Salary requirements

You’ll usually need to be paid at least £25,600 per year or £10.10 per hour, whichever is higher. If the ‘going rate’ for your job is higher than both of these, you’ll usually need to be paid at least the going rate.

Each occupation code has its own annual going rate. Check the going rate for your job in the going rates table.

When you can be paid less

You might still be able to apply for a Health and Care Worker visa if your job is eligible but your salary is less than £25,600 or your job’s usual ‘going rate’. You must still be paid at least £10.10 per hour.

You can be paid between 70% and 90% of the usual going rate for your job if your salary is at least £20,480 per year and you meet one of the following criteria:

• your job is in a shortage occupation
• you’re under 26, studying or a recent graduate, or in professional training
• you have a science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) PhD level qualification that’s relevant to your job (if you have a relevant PhD level qualification in any other subject your salary must be at least £23,040)
• you have a postdoctoral position in a scientific role

Your job is in a shortage occupation

A ‘shortage occupation’ is a skilled job where there is a shortage of workers in the UK.

If your job is on the shortage occupation list, you can be paid 80% of the job’s usual going rate.

View the shortage occupations list to see if your job is included and how much you’ll need to be paid.

Make sure you check there’s a shortage in the part of the UK you’ll be working in – England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

You’re under 26, studying or a recent graduate, or in professional training

You can be paid 70% of your job’s usual going rate if one of the following applies:

• you’re under 26 on the date you apply
• you’re currently in the UK on a Student visa studying at bachelor’s degree level or above – or you have been in the last 2 years, and a Student or visit visa was your most recent visa
• you’re currently in the UK on a Graduate Entrepreneur visa
• you’ll be working towards a recognised qualification in a UK regulated profession
• you’ll be working towards full registration or chartered status in the job you’re being sponsored for

If this applies to you, check how much you’ll need to be paid to qualify for this visa.

You have a PhD level qualification that’s relevant to your job

You can earn 80% or 90% of the job’s usual going rate, depending on which subject you are qualified in.

If you have a science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) qualification, you can be paid 80% of your job’s usual going rate, as long as you will still earn at least £20,480 per year.

If you have a non-STEM qualification, you can be paid 90% of your job’s usual going rate, as long as you will still earn at least £23,040 a year.

In both situations, you must:

• have a UK PhD or an equivalent doctorate-level overseas qualification – you’ll need to apply through Ecctis (formerly UK NARIC) to check if an overseas qualification is equivalent to a UK PhD
• be able to prove your qualification is relevant to the job you’ll be doing in the UK – your employer can confirm this

View the list of jobs that qualify for a PhD salary discount to see how much you need to be paid.

You have a postdoctoral position in a scientific role

You can be paid 70% of your job’s usual going rate if you’ll be working in a postdoctoral position.

Check how much you’ll need to be paid to qualify for this visa.

You’ll usually need to prove your knowledge of the English language when you apply, unless you did this in a previous successful visa application.

Level of English

You must prove you can read, write, speak and understand English to at least level B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale.

You can prove your knowledge of English by:

• passing a Secure English Language Test (SELT) from an approved provider
• having a GCSE, A level, Scottish National Qualification level 4 or 5, Scottish Higher or Advanced Higher in English, gained through study at a UK school that you began when you were under 18
• having a degree-level academic qualification that was taught in English – if you studied abroad, you’ll need to apply through Ecctis (formerly UK NARIC) for confirmation that your qualification is equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or PhD

Who does not need to prove their knowledge of English

You do not need to prove your knowledge of English if you’re a national of one of the following countries or territories:

• Antigua and Barbuda
• Australia
• the Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• the British overseas territories
• Canada
• Dominica
• Grenada
• Guyana
• Jamaica
• Malta
• New Zealand
• St Kitts and Nevis
• St Lucia
• St Vincent and the Grenadines
• Trinidad and Tobago
• USA

If you’re a doctor, dentist, nurse or midwife

You do not need to prove your knowledge of English if you’ve already passed an English Language assessment that is accepted by the relevant regulated professional body.

When you apply for a Health and Care Worker visa, you’ll need to have enough money to:

• pay the application fee
• support yourself when you arrive in the UK – you’ll usually need to have at least £1,270 available (unless you’re exempt)

You’ll be told how much you need to pay when you apply.

Application fees

The standard application fee depends on whether you’ll be in the UK for:

• up to 3 years – £247 per person
• more than 3 years – £479 per person

The fee is the same whether you apply from inside or outside the UK.

Money to support yourself

You must have at least £1,270 in your bank account to show you can support yourself in the UK.

You will need to have had the money available for at least 28 days in a row. Day 28 must be within 31 days of applying for this visa.

You’ll usually need to show proof of this when you apply, unless either:

• you’ve been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months
• your employer can cover your costs during your first month in the UK

Your partner and children will also need to prove they can support themselves while they’re in the UK. Check how much they’ll need.

Read the guidance on financial evidence for more information about the money you need and how to prove it.

If your employer can support you instead

Your certificate of sponsorship must confirm this. Your employer will need to complete the ‘sponsor certifies maintenance’ section on your certificate. This is under ‘Additional data’.

When you apply you’ll need to provide:

• your certificate of sponsorship reference number – your employer will give you this
• proof of your knowledge of English
• a valid passport or other document that shows your identity and nationality
• your job title and annual salary
• your job’s occupation code
• the name of your employer and their sponsor licence number – this will be on your certificate of sponsorship

Other documents you might need

Depending on your circumstances, you might be asked to provide:

• evidence that you have enough personal savings to support yourself in the UK, for example bank statements (unless your certificate of sponsorship shows your employer can support you)
• proof of your relationship with your partner or children if they’re applying with you
• your tuberculosis test results if you’re from a listed country
• a criminal record certificate – if you’re working in certain jobs
• your UK PhD certificate, or your unique Ecctis reference number (formerly unique UK NARIC reference number) if your qualification is from outside the UK – you’ll need to apply through Ecctis

You’ll need a blank page in your passport for your visa if you’re:

• from outside the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
• from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein but do not have a biometric passport with a chip in it

If your documents are not in English or Welsh you’ll also need to provide a certified translation.

Criminal record certificate

You’ll need to provide a criminal record certificate if you’re applying from outside the UK, unless your job is in one of the following occupation codes:

• biological scientists and biochemists (2112)
• physical scientists (2113)

If you’ve lived in more than one country

You might need to provide a certificate from each country you’ve lived in, depending on your age and how long you stayed in each country.

If you’re under 28, you’ll need a certificate from any country you’ve stayed in for a total of 12 months or more since you turned 18.

If you’re 28 or over, you’ll need a certificate from any country you’ve stayed in over the last 10 years.

You must apply online for a Health and Care Worker visa.

Check which documents you’ll need to apply.

Your partner or children will need to apply separately.

Proving your identity and providing supporting documents

As part of your application, you’ll need to prove your identity. How you do this depends on where you’re from and what type of passport you have.

You’ll either:

• have your fingerprints and photograph taken at a visa application centre – this is to get a biometric residence permit
• use the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ app to scan your identity document – you’ll also create or sign into your UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account

You’ll be told what you need to do when you apply.

If you do need an appointment:

• the centre may need to keep your passport and documents while they process your application
• you may have to travel to get to your nearest visa application centre (this could be in another country)

How long it takes to get a decision

Once you’ve applied online, proved your identity and provided your documents, you’ll usually get a decision within 3 weeks.

You’ll be contacted if your application will take longer, for example because:

• your supporting documents need to be verified
• you need to attend an interview
• of your personal circumstances, for example if you have a criminal conviction

You may be able to pay to get a faster decision – you’ll be told if you can when you apply.

Your partner and children can apply to join you or to stay in the UK as your ‘dependants’ if they’re eligible. If their application is successful, their visa will end on the same date as yours.

Your relationship

A dependant partner or child is any of the following:

• your husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried partner
• your child under 18 – including if they were born in the UK during your stay
• your child over 18 if they’re currently in the UK as your dependant

You’ll need to provide evidence of your relationship when you apply.

Your partner

You must be able to prove that either:

• you’re in a civil partnership or marriage that’s recognised in the UK
• you’ve been living together in a relationship for at least 2 years when you apply

If your child is 16 or over

They must:

• live with you (unless they’re in full-time education at boarding school, college or university)
• not be married, in a civil partnership or have any children
• be financially supported by you

If your child lives with you, you’ll need to provide evidence of their address such as:

• a bank statement
• credit card bills
• driving licence
• NHS registration document
• an official letter from their university or college

Money they need to support themselves

Your partner and children must have a certain amount of money available to support themselves while they’re in the UK.

You – or your partner or child – will need:

• £285 for your partner
• £315 for one child
• £200 for each additional child

You – or your partner or child – will need to have had the money available for at least 28 days in a row. Day 28 must be within 31 days of you or them applying for this visa.

You’ll usually need to show proof of this when they apply, unless either:

• you have all been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months
• your employer can cover your family’s costs during your first month in the UK – this must be confirmed on your certificate of sponsorship

If your partner or child is applying at a different time to you, they’ll only need to prove they have enough money to support themselves if they have been in the UK for less than 1 year.

Apply from outside the UK

Your partner and children must either:

• apply online as your partner
• apply online as your child

Each family member will need to complete a separate application and pay the application fee. The fee depends on whether they’ll be in the UK for:

• up to 3 years – £247 per person
• more than 3 years – £479 per person

They’ll also need your application number – you’ll get this when you apply. This number is called a Global Web Form (GWF) or a Unique Application Number (UAN). You’ll find it on emails and letters from the Home Office about your application.

Proving their identity

As part of their application, your partner and children will need to prove their identity.

They’ll either:

• have their fingerprints and photograph taken at a visa application centre – this is to get a biometric residence permit
• use the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ app to scan their identity document – they’ll also create or sign in to their UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account

They’ll be told what they need to do when they apply.

If they do need an appointment:

• the visa application centre may need to keep their passport and documents while they process their application
• they may have to travel to get to their nearest centre (this could be in another country)

How long it takes to get a decision

Once they’ve applied online, proved their identity and provided their documents, they’ll usually get a decision within 3 weeks.

They may be able to pay to get a faster decision – they’ll be told if they can when they apply.

Apply from inside the UK (extend or switch their visa)

Your partner or child can apply to extend or switch their visa either:

• at the same time as you apply to extend or switch your own visa
• at any time before their current visa expires

This includes children who have turned 18 during your stay.

Your partner or children cannot apply to switch to your Health and Care Worker visa as your dependants if they are currently in the UK:

• on a visit visa
• on a short-term student visa
• on a Parent of a Child Student visa
• on a seasonal worker visa
• on a domestic worker in a private household visa
• on immigration bail
• because they were given permission to stay outside the immigration rules, for example on compassionate grounds

How to apply

Your partner and children must apply online to either:

• extend or switch to your Health and Care Worker visa as your partner
• extend or switch to your Health and Care Worker visa as your child

They’ll need your application number – you’ll get this when you apply. This number is called a Global Web Form (GWF) or a Unique Application Number (UAN). You’ll find it on emails and letters from the Home Office about your application.

Proving their identity

As part of their application, your partner and children will need to prove their identity. They’ll either:

• have their fingerprints and photograph taken at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) service point – this is to get a biometric residence permit
• use the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ app to scan their identity document – they’ll also create or sign in to their UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account

They’ll be told what they need to do when they apply.

How long it takes to get a decision

Once they’ve applied online, proved their identity and provided their documents, they’ll usually get a decision within 8 weeks.

They may be able to pay to get a faster decision – they’ll be told if they can when they apply.

Children born in the UK

If you have a child while you’re in the UK, they do not automatically become a British citizen.

You can apply online for their dependant visa. You must do this if you want to travel in and out of the UK with your child.

You’ll need to provide a full UK birth certificate for each child, showing the names of both parents.