Health & Care Visa

Health & Care Requirements

The applicants who wish to enter the UK under a Health and Care Visa must satisfy some criteria similar to the current Skilled Worker category:

• Be aged 18 or over and is a qualified doctor, nurse, health professional or adult social care professional;
• Be offered a job and have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) by a UK licenced sponsor in a medical organisation or in adult social care.  
• Provide evidence of having been offered an appropriate salary, which meets the relevant salary threshold
• Be able to provide evidence of knowledge of the English language
• Having sufficient personal savings when arriving in the UK
• Provide a valid tuberculosis test results (if from a listed country)
• Provide a criminal record certificate from any country where a migrant has lived for 12 months or more (whether continuously or in total) in the last 10 years 

Mandatory Requirements for Health & Care

According to the new rules that came into effect on March 11^th, care workers and senior care workers will not be able to bring their family members to the UK anymore.

The general salary threshold for Health and Care roles not on a national salary scale is £29,000. Health and Care roles listed on the Immigration Salary List, keeping in line with the national salary scale, will have a salary limit set at £23,200.

In England, only employers with CQC registration can hire care workers (code 6135) and senior care workers (code 6136).

Occupation codes eligible for Health & Care visa

1171: health services and public health managers and directors

1231: health care practice managers

1232: residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors

2113: biochemists and biomedical scientists

2114: physical scientists

2211: generalist medical practitioners

2212: specialist medical practitioners

2221: physiotherapists

2222: occupational therapists

2223: speech and language therapists

2224: psychotherapists and cognitive behaviour therapists

2225: clinical psychologists

2226: other psychologists

2229: therapy professionals not elsewhere classified

2231: midwifery nurses

2232: registered community nurses

2233: registered specialist nurses

2234: registered nurse practitioners

2235: registered mental health nurses

2236: registered children’s nurses

2237: other registered nursing professionals

2251: pharmacists

2252: optometrists

2253: dental practitioners

2254: medical radiographers

2255: paramedics

2256: podiatrists

2259: other health professionals not elsewhere classified

2461: social workers

3111: laboratory technicians

3211: dispensing opticians

3212: pharmaceutical technicians

3213: medical and dental technicians

3219: health associate professionals not elsewhere classified

6131: nursing auxiliaries and assistants

6132: ambulance staff (excluding paramedics)

6133: dental nurses

6135: care workers and home carers

6136: senior care workers

Benefits of Health and Care Visa

The applicants applying under this route will pay a reduced fee if their sponsor has confirmed their eligibility for the health and care visa on the certificate of sponsorship. In addition, there will be no Immigration Health Surcharge to pay under this route. UK Visas and Immigration will prioritise Health and Care visa applications, aiming that the vast majority are processed within 3 weeks from the date biometrics are taken.

Extension for Health and Care Visa

To be eligible to extend the health and care visa, one must fulfil all of the following requirements:

• The candidate still holds the same job as when they had last given permission to enter or stay in the UK.
• Their job remains in the same occupation code as when they received their previous permission to stay or enter the UK.
• Their profession remains within the same code category as when they received their previous permission to reside or enter the UK.
• They continue to meet the salary requirements.

Settlement as a Health and Care Worker

The Health and Care workers must satisfy the below criteria to apply for settlement in the UK under this route. 

• Spent a continuous period of 5 years in the UK 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);
• Not been outside for more than 180 days during each year of the 5-year continuous period;
• Pass the Life in the UK test (unless aged 65 or over); 
• Skilled worker sponsor continues to be on the register of sponsors and requires you to work for them for the foreseeable future;
• Be paid the general salary threshold or the going rate requirement, whichever is higher.

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 are a multi award winning law firm and 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.