Health and Care Worker visa

For your Health and Care Worker visa to be considered, you must ensure that you submit the correct documents with your application. Health and Care visa applicants must provide the following:

• Your Certificate of Sponsorship reference number- to be given to you by your employer
• A valid passport or alternative travel document to prove your identity and nationality
• Your job title and details of your intended annual salary
• Proof of your knowledge of the English language
• Your job occupation code
• Details of your employer who has proposed your job offer
• Your employers Sponsor Licence number
• Criminal record certificate (if required)

All of the required documents must be translated into English or Welsh if they are not already. You can seek guidance from a translator to do so. Failure to translate your documents could potentially result in your application for a Health and Care Worker visa being rejected.

You must meet the minimum salary requirements for your particular job role in the Health and Care sector. Health and Care workers can only qualify for a Health and Care Worker visa if they meet the salary requirements outlined by the UK Home Office.

Typically, you must earn a minimum annual salary of £25,600 or an hourly rate of £10.10.

The only time you may qualify for a Health and Care Worker visa without meeting the minimum wage requirements is if you:

• Are a student
• Are under the age of 26 years old and are in professional training
• Are working a job on the shortage occupation list
• Have a Ph.D. STEM qualification that can be applied in health and care
• Have a postdoctoral qualification in science or medicine

The Health and Care Worker visa allows applicants to apply at a reduced visa fee. Ultimately, the fee you pay will depend on the length of time you plan to live and work in the United Kingdom as a health professional.

If you wish to stay less than three years, you must pay a fee of £247 to submit your application. Anything longer than three years is subject to an application fee of £479.

The reduced application fee makes the Health and Care Worker visa extremely attractive for overseas healthcare professionals- not to mention the abolishment of the immigration health surcharge for Care Worker visa holders.

An additional reduced visa fee of £55 is initially available to citizens of the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, 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.

The application process for a Health and Care Worker visa can seem daunting, however, with the correct legal guidance, it can run seamlessly.

You should apply for your Health and Care Worker visa online.

The application should be made using the Skilled Worker visa application platform, where you will be prompted to state whether you are applying as a Health and Care worker. You should check ‘Yes’.

You must pay your application fee and submit your documents along with your application form for your case to be considered by the Home Office.

Should you be asked to make an appointment at a visa application centre to give your biometric information, you should do so promptly to avoid delaying your application.

The key difference between the Health and Care Worker visa and the Skilled Worker visa is the occupation sets it is aimed at.

Whilst the Health and Care Worker visa is aimed primarily at personnel in the Health and Care sector, applicants can take advantage of reduced visa fees and no immigration health surcharge payments whilst they live and work in the UK.

The Skilled Worker route is targeted at skilled workers across a variety of specialities, whilst the Health and Care Worker visa remains more limited with a niche target audience.

Whilst in the UK with a Health and Care Worker visa, you must adhere to immigration rules. Therefore, it is important to know what your Health and Care visa allows you to do in the United Kingdom.

You can:

• Work an eligible job
• Take up voluntary work
• Study
• Bring your dependent children and partner to the UK
• Travel to and from the United Kingdom
• Extend your Health and Care visa if you wish
• Apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after 5 years of continuous residence