The UK Health and Care Worker visa allows professional health workers to come to the United Kingdom and work. Initially, you can apply for a visa of up to 5 years and extend your visa at the end of that period. In addition, if you meet the criteria, you may become eligible for Indefinite Leave to Remain, also known as ILR, at the end of the first 5 years.
Health and Care Worker visa applications are assessed under a points-based system. For this reason, there are certain set documents, some mandatory and some that may vary, that you need to submit with your visa application. For example, while the Certificate of Sponsorship is a mandatory document, you do not need to hold a doctoral degree to apply, even though it would give you additional points. We will briefly explain these documents in this article.
The first step in applying for the Health and Care Worker visa is to check your occupational eligibility through the occupation codes set by the Home Office. In brief, these include nurses, dental nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists, pharmacists, midwives and many other health and care worker job titles. If you would like to check your occupational eligibility for a UK Health and Care Worker visa, please contact us!
The second step will be to prepare documents showing that you work, or will work, for a UK-based employer commissioned by the NHS. Your employer may be the NHS itself, or it may be a health or social care organisation recognised by the NHS. Your employer must issue you a Certificate of Sponsorship containing important details such as your job title, your period of employment and your salary.
Your salary and duties are therefore set through your Certificate of Sponsorship before your visa application. There are also set rates for salary amounts for each eligible occupation listed. Unless the rate set for your occupation is higher, your minimum salary must be £20,480. So that we can help you with the salary criteria, please let us hear your story before you make your application!
Another fixed and mandatory part of this application is proving your English language skills. You must show that you can write, understand, speak and read English at a minimum of B1 level. You can evidence your language skills with an English test at a test centre recognised by the UK government, although in some cases you do not need to take a test. You can contact us with any questions about exceptional circumstances.
Apart from these three fixed elements, you are also expected to prove your educational and professional background with documents. We recognise that every application has its own particular circumstances, but please remember that this visa type uses a points-based assessment system and that you need a minimum of 70 points for a successful application.
For more detailed information, you can also visit our Health and Care Worker visa page on our website!