Health & Care Worker
The Health and Care Worker visa is the UK's dedicated route for qualified healthcare professionals — doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, and allied health professionals. It's a discounted version of the Skilled Worker visa with lower fees, no NHS surcharge, and faster processing. New overseas applications for care workers and senior care workers are currently closed.
Do you qualify?
You must meet three requirements for the Health and Care Worker visa: qualification as a health or social care professional, a qualifying job offer, and your English. Missing any one means the visa cannot be granted.
⚠️ Care worker roles are excluded from new overseas applications.
You must be a qualified doctor, nurse, midwife, paramedic, or other recognised health or social care professional. The profession must be one that the UK accepts for this visa, and in most cases, you will need (or be in the process of obtaining) registration with the relevant UK regulator — GMC for doctors, NMC for nurses and midwives, HCPC for allied health professionals, GPhC for pharmacists.
You must have a job offer from a UK employer licensed to sponsor foreign workers, and the role must be in an eligible health or care occupation — typically doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, radiographers, and other allied health professionals. See the full list here.
The salary must also meet the rules set out in the next section.
Upper-intermediate English (CEFR B2) is required in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Healthcare professionals who have already passed an English assessment accepted by their UK regulator (such as the GMC for doctors or the NMC for nurses) usually do not need to take a separate test for the visa.
2026 salary requirements
Figures valid for 2026, gross (before tax). The Health and Care Worker visa has three salary routes, and you can use whichever one gives you the best outcome based on your role and qualifications.
Each role also has a published going rate set by the government based on market salaries. You must be paid either the threshold above or the going rate for your specific role, whichever is higher. For NHS roles on national pay scales, the going rate usually matches the relevant Agenda for Change pay band, so meeting the band almost always satisfies the visa rule.
What you need to apply
Once you qualify and confirm the offer meets the salary rules, the items below are what you'll need. Most sit with you. A few sit with the employer. Some only apply to certain countries or circumstances.
What to expect, step by step
From accepting an offer to landing in the UK takes roughly 5–9 weeks — slightly faster than the standard Skilled Worker route, because Health and Care Worker applications are prioritised by UKVI.
Most common delay: Professional registration. The GMC, NMC, HCPC, and other regulators run on their own timelines, and a job offer often depends on registration being in progress or complete. Start the regulator application early — often before applying for the visa itself.
After accepting the job offer, the employer issues a Certificate of Sponsorship. This is a digital reference number, not a physical document, and it must be used within 3 months.
Apply online at gov.uk using the CoS reference. The visa fee is £324 (up to 3 years) or £628 (over 3 years) from outside the UK — significantly lower than the main Skilled Worker visa. There is no Immigration Health Surcharge for this route.
Attend the nearest visa application centre to give fingerprints and a photo. Documents are uploaded through the UKVI system either before or at the appointment.
Health and Care Worker applications are prioritised — UKVI aims to decide within 3 weeks of the biometrics appointment.
On approval, a vignette is placed in the passport, valid for 90 days to enter the UK. After arrival, the full visa is accessed as an eVisa through a UKVI account. Work can start on or after the date listed on the Certificate of Sponsorship.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, but the new employer must also be a licensed Health and Care Worker visa sponsor (NHS, NHS supplier, or CQC-registered). A new Certificate of Sponsorship and visa application are required. Work cannot begin in the new role until the change is approved.
Yes. Spouse, unmarried partner, and children under 18 can join as dependents. The partner can work any job, full-time, including self-employment. Dependants do not pay the Immigration Health Surcharge under this route. Children can attend UK state schools for free. A Dependent visa needs to be applied for.
No, not currently. New overseas applications for care workers (SOC 6135) and senior care workers (SOC 6136) closed on 22 July 2025 and will remain closed at least until July 2028. The closure does not affect doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, or other regulated health professionals — those routes remain fully open. If you are already in the UK on another visa and have worked for a CQC-registered employer for at least 3 months, transitional in-country switching is still possible.
Significantly less than other UK work visas. The visa fee is £324 (up to 3 years) or £628 (over 3 years), and there is no Immigration Health Surcharge — saving £1,035 per year per person compared to the main Skilled Worker route. Add an English test if needed (~£200), document translations, and the TB test if required. For one applicant on a 3-year visa, budget £600–£1,200. Add roughly the same for each dependent.
The visa and your professional registration are separate processes, but they're connected. Your employer will usually expect your registration to be in progress or complete before issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship. Each regulator has its own application, fees, and timeline — typically 3–6 months. The English assessment accepted by your regulator usually also satisfies the visa English requirement, which saves the cost and time of a separate test.
Yes. After 5 continuous years on the Health and Care Worker visa, you can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). The application requires passing the Life in the UK test, proving English at the level required at the time of application, and meeting the salary rules in force on that date. After ILR, British citizenship can be applied for 12 months later. The UK has proposed reforms to the settlement timeline — verify the current rule before relying on the 5-year figure.
A wide range. The NHS is the largest sponsor — both individual NHS Trusts and central recruitment programmes actively hire internationally for nursing, medical, and allied health roles. NHS-commissioned suppliers (private hospitals and clinics that deliver NHS services) also sponsor. CQC-registered private healthcare providers across hospital, community, and specialist care settings sponsor medical and nursing roles. Universities and research hospitals sponsor clinical academic positions. The practical question is less whether your profession is sponsored — most regulated health professions are — than which specific employers are recruiting at the moment.
Workbeyond lists only UK healthcare roles from licensed sponsors, with the salary and sponsor status visible upfront.
Find visa-sponsored jobs in United Kingdom
Every job listed on Workbeyond is from an employer who sponsors international workers in the United Kingdom. Use the filters to narrow by profession, city, and seniority level to find roles that match your criteria.
Other visas you may qualify for
For professionals with a job offer from a UK Home Office licensed sponsor. Covers the vast majority of professional roles, including healthcare, tech, finance, and education.
Move to the UK without employer sponsorship if you can prove you are a leader or rising talent in research, arts or digital technology. No salary threshold applies, but endorsement evidence is demanding.