If you're a medical professional looking to work in the UK, you can learn more about the Health and Care Worker Visa requirements and application process.

What is the Health and Care Worker Visa?

For foreign medical professionals who want to relocate to the UK to work for the NHS, an NHS supplier, or in the adult social care industry, there is a relatively new visa category called the Health and Care Visa. This new visa category allows healthcare workers to enter the UK more efficiently, quickly, and for less money.

While the Health and Care visa and the Skilled Worker visa both allow you to live and work in the UK, there are some differences between the two. Only certain medical professionals and individuals in qualifying health and care roles are eligible for the Health and Care Worker Visa. Holders of Health and Care Visas pay lower visa fees and are exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge.

The Health and Care Visa is suitable for up to 5 years; if you want to keep working in the UK after that time, you can apply to extend it. You may renew your Health and Care visa as often as possible, provided that you meet the eligibility requirements. After staying in the country for at least five years on this visa, you may be qualified to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain if you want to make the UK your permanent home.

Who is eligible for a Health and Care visa?

Only qualified doctors, nurses, and other allied health professionals working in positions that qualify in the UK healthcare industry are eligible for the Health and Care Visa. You must fulfill several additional requirements besides the job requirements to be eligible for the visa.

If you satisfy the following requirements, you might be given a Health and Care Visa:

• You hold a valid licence as a physician, nurse, health care provider, or adult social care professional
• You have a job offer from an employer in the UK that the Home Office has authorised, and you will be employed in one of the eligible occupations in the health or social care sector.
• You have a Certificate of Sponsorship from your UK employer, which details the position offered to you
• You satisfy the wage requirements, which depend on the work you will do.
• You are from a country with the most English speakers or have a qualifying degree-level academic qualification taught in English, so you do not need to meet this requirement. You can read, write, speak, and understand English at least at level B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale.

Certificate of Sponsorship requirements

To obtain your Health and Care Worker Visa, you must hold a valid Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) issued by a government-approved employer in the UK. A Certificate of Sponsorship is not a physical document but an electronic record.

The Certificate of Sponsorship requirements differ slightly for Health and Care Workers than for Skilled Worker Visa applicants. If applying for a visa under the Health and Care route, then your employer must also include a brief explanation in your Certificate of Sponsorship giving details about how you meet the Health and Care Worker requirements

If your employer is an organization that provides medical services for the NHS, then they may also need to submit evidence of their contract with the NHS.

The skilled worker visa and the health and care visa are they the same thing?

The Health and Care Worker Visa does come under the Skilled Worker route and applications are made by applying for a Skilled Worker Visa and answering yes when asked if you are applying for a Health and Care Visa as part of your application.

However, the Health and Care Visa does differ from the regular Skilled Worker visa. Only certain healthcare professionals are eligible for this visa. As well as this, applicants for the Health and Care Worker Visa pay reduced visa fees and do not need to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge Health and Care Visa.