What is a Health and Care Worker Visa?

The Health and Care Worker visa is a specialist visa for medical and care professionals seeking to work in the UK. Over the past 50 years, the National Health Service (NHS) and private health sector have increasingly relied on migrant labour to ensure the care and services it provides remain world-class. Given the growing scale of migrants working within the NHS, a dedicated visa route has been set up to streamline the process.

The Health and Care Worker visa replaced the Tier 2 Health and Care visa and is a route for all qualified doctors, nurses, health professionals, and adult social care professionals to work in the UK. Providing you have a job offer where a certificate of sponsorship has been issued, and you meet the salary, maintenance, and English requirements, then you can be issued with a work visa for up to 5 years. After the 5 years, you would then be in a position to obtain Indefinite Leave to Remain, and then become a British Citizen.

Health and Care Worker Requirements

The Health and care Worker visa has several key components, all of which must be fulfilled for the visa to be approved:

• Job Offer Requirement: Applicants must have a job offer from a UK employer with a valid sponsor license. The job offer must be from the NHS, a company providing medical services to the NHS, or an organisation providing adult social care.
• Skill and Salary Threshold: The job offer must be for an acceptable occupation (with an eligible occupation code) to be eligible for the visa, and you must also meet the salary criteria. This means being paid a minimum of £23,200 or the ‘going rate’ for your designated role. Each occupation code has a specified ‘going rate.’
• English Language Requirement: Applicants must demonstrate the ability to read, write, speak, and understand English at a minimum of level B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale.
• Sponsorship and Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS): The employer must issue a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), which includes key details about the job and the applicant.
• Maintenance Requirement: Applicants must demonstrate that they have sufficient funds (or alternative arrangements) to support themselves and any dependents upon arrival in the UK.

Eligible Roles for a Health and Care Worker Visa

Your job must be in one of the following roles (with the specific occupation code) to qualify for the Health and Care Worker 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

If your job does not appear on this list, you can search for it on the CASCOT occupation coding tool. It may be that your specific role is categorised under a more general role. However, if your role doesn’t fall within any of these listed occupation codes, you’ll need to consider an alternative immigration route to the Health and Care Worker visa.

Minimum Salary Requirements

You will typically need to earn at least £23,200 to qualify for a Health and Care Worker visa, however the requirement is much higher for skilled roles. Each occupation code has a specific annual ‘going rate’ and this will determine the minimum rate. If the ‘going rate’ for your job is higher than £23,200, then you must be paid at least the going rate.

There are some exceptions to this rule. You will need to meet different salary requirements if your job falls under one of the following occupation codes:

• 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
• 3111: Laboratory technicians
• 3211: Dispensing opticians
• 3212: Pharmaceutical technicians
• 6135: Care workers and home carers
• 6136: Senior care workers

For these roles, you’ll usually need to be paid at least £29,000 per year, or the lower ‘going rate’ for your job, whichever is higher.

How you find the ‘going rate’ depends on your job. It’s generally best to refer to the national pay scales for eligible healthcare roles to find the salary requirements. These scales list salaries by NHS pay band and region within the UK. Consult your employer if you’re unsure of your role or pay band.

Sponsorship and Certificate of Sponsorship Requirement

The Sponsorship and Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) are key components of the Health and Care Worker visa application process, and the employer must handle both. The following is a summary of these requirements:

• Sponsorship: To be eligible for a Health and Care Worker visa, you need a valid job offer from a UK employer who holds a Sponsor Licence issued by the Home Office. The employer must be registered as a sponsor and authorised to hire foreign workers.
• Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS): After offering you a job, the UK employer will issue a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), which is a unique reference number linked to your job offer. This certificate includes details about the role, salary, occupation code, and other relevant information. It confirms that the employer has provided you with a legitimate job offer.

The CoS is generated through the Sponsor Management System (SMS), the online platform used by UK employers to manage their sponsorship duties. It is not a physical certificate, but a digital reference number that you must provide when applying for your visa.

English Language Requirement

You typically need to demonstrate your knowledge of the English language when applying, unless you have already done so in a previous successful visa application. You must show that you can read, write, speak, and understand English at least at the B1 level on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale.

You can prove your English proficiency 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, obtained through study at a UK school before you turned 18
• Holding a degree-level qualification taught in English; if you studied abroad, you will need to apply through Ecctis (formerly UK NARIC) to verify that your qualification is equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or PhD
• Being a national of a majority English-speaking country such as Australia, Canada, or the USA

If you are a doctor, dentist, nurse, or midwife, you are not required to demonstrate your English proficiency if you have already passed an English language assessment recognized by the appropriate regulatory professional body.

You can find further details in our English Language Requirement Guide in the Knowledge Centre.

Maintenance Requirement

To satisfy the Maintenance Requirement, you must have at least £1,270 in your bank account to demonstrate that you can financially support yourself while in the UK. This sum of money needs to have been in your account for at least 28 consecutive days, with the 28th day falling within 31 days of your visa application.

You will need to satisfy the maintenance requirement when applying, unless one of the following applies:

• You have held a valid visa and been in the UK for at least 12 months.
• Your employer can cover your living expenses for your first month in the UK (and has indicated this on the Certificate of Sponsorship)

If you are able and planning to bring your partner and children as dependents, you must prove you can support them during their stay in the UK. You must show an additional £285 for a partner, £315 for your first child, and £200 for any additional children.

If your employer is providing financial support Your certificate of sponsorship must state this. Your employer will need to complete the ‘sponsor certifies maintenance’ section, found under ‘Additional data.’

Dependants on a Health and Care Worker Visa

Your partner and children may be eligible to apply to join you or remain in the UK as your ‘dependants.’ If they’re eligible, you’ll need to clearly establish the relationship and prove that you have sufficient funds to support them within the UK.

The ability to include dependents on your visa is based on the applicant’s occupation code, specifically whether they are a care worker or senior care worker. From 11 March 2024 onwards, workers under these occupation codes cannot bring dependants to the UK. Workers under all other occupation codes are still allowed to bring dependents.

For more information, please refer to our Health and Care Worker Dependent visa guide.

Health and Care Worker Document Checklist

When applying for a Health and Care Worker visa, you’ll need to provide:

• Your certificate of sponsorship reference number (provided by your employer)
• Proof of your English language proficiency
• A valid passport or another document verifying your identity and nationality
• Your job title and annual salary
• Your job’s occupation code
• Your employer’s name and their sponsor licence number (found on your certificate of sponsorship)

Depending on your situation, you may be required to provide:

• Evidence of sufficient personal savings to support yourself in the UK, such as bank statements (unless your certificate of sponsorship indicates that your employer will support you)
• Proof of your relationship with your partner or children if they are applying with you
• Tuberculosis test results if you are from a listed country
• A criminal record certificate if your job requires it
• Your UK PhD certificate or your unique Ecctis reference number (formerly known as the unique UK NARIC reference number) if your qualification is from outside the UK (you will need to apply through Ecctis)