Health and Care Worker Visa UK

Key Overviews

• Only roles on a defined list of NHS and social care occupation codes qualify.
• £25,000 salary floor with going rate on top. The threshold is lower than the general Skilled Worker route.
• Full Immigration Health Surcharge exemption. Neither the main applicant nor dependants pay the IHS. 
• Care worker route is closed to new overseas applicants. From 22 July 2025, SOC 6135 and 6136 cannot sponsor new workers from abroad. Existing holders can extend until 22 July 2028.
• B2 English required, with wide exemptions. 
• Five years to ILR. Time on the Health and Care Worker Visa counts in full towards Indefinite Leave to Remain.

What Is the Health and Care Worker Visa?

The Health and Care Worker Visa sits within the Skilled Worker Immigration Rules, but operates as a separate stream for eligible roles in the NHS, the independent health sector, and adult social care. It was introduced in August 2020 to attract and retain overseas clinical and care staff.

Because the route is aimed at staff working within publicly funded health systems, it carries concessions that the standard Skilled Worker Visa does not: lower application fees, exemption from the Immigration Health Surcharge for both the applicant and their dependants, and salary thresholds calibrated to NHS pay bands.

The route leads to Indefinite Leave to Remain after five years, and to British citizenship one year after that.

Health and Care Worker Visa Requirements 

Under Immigration Rules Appendix Skilled Worker, you must demonstrate that:

• You have a genuine job offer from an approved sponsor in the NHS, an NHS-contracted organisation, or adult social care
• Your role is on the list of eligible occupation codes, see the next section
• Your sponsor holds a valid Health and Care sponsor licence
• For care worker roles in England, your employer is registered with the Care Quality Commission
• Your salary meets the higher of £25,000 or the going rate for your occupation code
• You meet the English language requirement at B2, or you are exempt
• You have £1,270 in personal savings held for 28 consecutive days (or your sponsor has certified maintenance)
• You have a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) with a valid reference number
• You can provide a TB certificate if applying from a country on the Home Office screening list
• You have no adverse immigration or criminal history

Eligible Occupation Codes

The Health and Care Worker Visa is tied to a defined list of SOC 2020 codes. The role must match the occupation code in content, not just in job title. Eligible categories include:

• Medical practitioners and specialists (SOC 2211 and 2212)
• Nurses, midwives and nursing assistants (SOC 2231 to 2237)
• Allied health professionals, including physiotherapists (2221), occupational therapists (2222), radiographers, dietitians and speech and language therapists
• Pharmacists (2251) and ophthalmic opticians
• Paramedics (2255) and ambulance staff
• Social workers (2461)
• Laboratory technicians and pharmaceutical technicians (3111 and 3212)
• Senior care workers (SOC 6136) and care workers (SOC 6135), subject to the rules below
• Health service and residential home managers (SOC 1171, 1232)

NHS direct employment, NHS-contracted roles and roles with approved providers in the independent and adult social care sectors all qualify, provided the sponsor holds the correct licence category.

If your role does not appear on the list but is otherwise skilled, consider the standard Skilled Worker route instead. For a side-by-side, see our Skilled Worker Visa UK 2026 guide.

Salary Thresholds in 2026

The Health and Care Worker Visa uses salary option K under Appendix Skilled Worker. The general threshold is £25,000 per year, with the going rate applied where higher.

In practice:

• NHS roles paid on the Agenda for Change pay scale use the published AfC going rate for the role. A Band 5 Registered Nurse, for example, meets the threshold through the standard AfC starting salary
• Private sector and care sector roles use the occupation code’s published going rate
• Senior care workers (SOC 6136) and care workers (SOC 6135) have a minimum hourly equivalent of £12.82 where paid on an hourly basis
• Reduced thresholds for new entrants, PhD holders and STEM researchers work through salary options F to J and can lower the floor to £25,000 with up to 30 per cent off the going rate

Salary is counted from guaranteed basic pay. Bank shifts, overtime and unsocial-hours uplifts are normally excluded unless guaranteed for the life of the visa. Small shortfalls on the CoS, such as a starting salary pitched fractionally below the going rate, are the most common cause of refusal.

Care Worker Route: 22 July 2025 Changes

From 22 July 2025, the Health and Care Worker Visa is closed to new overseas applicants in the care worker occupation codes (SOC 6135 and 6136). Sponsors in England can no longer issue Certificates of Sponsorship to new staff recruited from abroad for these roles.

Transitional arrangements keep the route alive for those already in the system:

• Care workers already in the UK with valid permission can extend under the existing rules until 22 July 2028
• Existing care workers can change sponsor if the new sponsor meets the domestic recruitment requirement
• People already in the UK on another route (for example Student, Graduate or Dependant) can switch into care worker roles, provided they have been employed lawfully with the sponsoring employer for at least three continuous months before the CoS is issued
• Care workers who held a CoS before 22 July 2025 retain eligibility to sponsor dependants already in the UK, subject to the usual criteria

These rules only affect care worker occupation codes. Doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, pharmacists and other clinical roles are not affected and remain fully open.

Thinking of moving from a Student or Graduate visa into care work? Our Skilled Worker Visa UK 2026 guide explains the evidence a sponsor needs to show domestic recruitment has been attempted first.

Bringing Dependants

Health professionals on the Health and Care Worker route can bring a partner and children under 18 as dependants. Each dependant applies separately and pays their own reduced application fee, but neither the main applicant nor the dependants pay the Immigration Health Surcharge.

Dependants must show:

• A genuine and subsisting relationship (for partners)
• Sufficient funds alongside the main applicant: £285 for a partner, £315 for the first child and £200 for each additional child, held for 28 consecutive days
• That the child will be cared for and maintained without public funds

Care workers (SOC 6135 and 6136) face tighter rules. From 11 March 2024, new care worker applicants cannot bring dependants on their visa. Transitional protection applies only to those who were continuously employed as a care worker under a CoS assigned before 11 March 2024, or who can meet the tightly drawn sole-parent or UK-born child exceptions.

Route to Settlement (ILR)

Time on the Health and Care Worker Visa counts in full towards Indefinite Leave to Remain. You can apply for ILR after five years of continuous lawful residence on the route. To qualify you must:

• Have held Health and Care Worker permission (or a qualifying combination of work routes) for a continuous five-year period
• Still be sponsored in a genuine role paid at the applicable settlement salary threshold
• Have spent no more than 180 days outside the UK in any rolling 12-month period
• Pass the Life in the UK test
• Meet the English language requirement at B1 (rising to B2 for applications on or after 26 March 2027)
• Have no adverse immigration or criminal history

ILR ends sponsorship. Once settled, you can work anywhere in the UK without visa conditions and become eligible to apply for British citizenship 12 months later.

How Whytecroft Ford Can Help

The Health and Care Worker Visa is cheaper than the standard Skilled Worker route, but it is no less technical.  At Whytecroft Ford we are IAA-regulated immigration advisers. We assist with:

• Eligibility checks for clinical and care roles across NHS, independent sector and social care
• Salary reviews against Agenda for Change and occupation-specific going rates
• CoS review before assignment
• Full application preparation and submission, entry clearance or in-country
• Dependant applications for partners and children, including care worker exceptions
• Switching from Student, Graduate or Skilled Worker routes into Health and Care Worker sponsorship
• Settlement planning and ILR applications at the five-year mark

Because the route exempts you from the Immigration Health Surcharge, the cost of moving your family to the UK on this route can be dramatically lower than Skilled Worker. 

To discuss your application, call +44 (0)208 757 5751, email info@whytecroftford.com or book a consultation.

Sources 

• Health and Care Worker Visa – GOV.UK
• Immigration Rules Appendix: Skilled Worker – GOV.UK
• Care Quality Commission register – CQC
• Immigration Rules Appendix Skilled Occupations