Health Care Worker Visa Overview
The Health and Care Worker Visa currently forms part of Skilled Worker, anyone wishing to apply for the Health and Care Visa must meet all of the requirements for the relevant route.
The government committed to introducing a ‘Health and Care Visa’ for qualified doctors, nurses and allied health professionals who have been trained to a recognised standard and who have good working English. The scope of the visa was extended to include eligible persons working in the social care sector. The benefits for such workers are fast-track entry, reduced visa fees and dedicated support to come to the UK with their families.
In addition, as announced by the Prime Minister on 21 May 2020, people applying for the Health and Care Worker Visa, and their dependant family, are exempt from paying the Immigration Health Surcharge. This reduction in fees, exemptions to health surcharge and the fast tracking of the application itself is all aimed at ensuring that gaps in the industry can be filled from overseas more easily.
Health and Care Worker Visa Eligibility
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.
The list of eligible professions is subject to change, and at present includes the following:
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
2221 – Physiotherapists
2222 – Occupational Therapists
2223 – Speech and Language Therapists
2229 – Therapy professionals not elsewhere classified
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
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 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 Health and Care visa, although it remains open to applicants who fall outside the new visa route to apply under the standard Skilled Worker visa arrangements.
Health and Care Worker visa requirements
he 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 paid a minimum salary – how much depends on the type of work the applicant does
- 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.
Dependants of the main applicant
When applying for a Health and Care visa, immediate family members will be eligible to accompany or join you in the UK on this route. This includes your 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.
How can we assist?
Our Immigration lawyers at City Legal have immense experience in assisting skilled workers and their employers across a wide range of industry and sectors in the UK. We pride ourselves in being approachable, innovative and always going that extra mile to make sure our clients receive the individual attention they deserve. Our Immigration team maintains a high reputation and is committed to provide clear, transparent and reliable advice to our clients.
We are extremely well versed in UK work visa applications and especially the Health and Care Worker visa applications.
We can help you to formulate your Health and Care Worker Visa application to the very highest standard. One of our experienced immigration lawyers can work with you through the entire application process.
Your immigration lawyer will write a letter of representation, highlighting the merits of your case in accompaniment with your application.
Please get in touch now, to find out more about how we can help you.
