Health and Care Worker Visa in the UK: Your Essential FAQ Guide

Navigating the complexities of immigration regulations can be challenging, particularly within the dynamic landscape of health and care immigration in the UK.

Whether you are a healthcare professional seeking to contribute your skills to the National Health Service (NHS) or an employer looking to support your international workforce, understanding the nuances of visa regulations, eligibility criteria and associated rights is essential.

This blog addresses some of the most frequently asked questions about the Health and Care Worker visa, a specialised route designed to attract talented health professionals to the UK. Covering topics such as family dependents, job flexibility, salary thresholds and indefinite leave to remain (ILR), this guide aims to clarify the key concerns faced by visa applicants and their employers.

Health and Care Worker Visa: FAQs

1. If I am eligible for the Health and Care Worker visa, is my family eligible to join me in the UK?

If you applied for your Health and Care Worker visa before 11 March 2024, your partner and children can apply to join you in the UK as your ‘dependants’ if they are eligible.

To be eligible, you must meet one of the following requirements:

• • • You’re currently still on a Health and Care Worker visa;
    • You’re extending your Health and Care Worker visa with your current employer; or
    • You’re changing to a new job within the same occupation code while on a Health and Care Worker visa.

If you applied for your initial Health and Care Worker visa on or after 11 March 2024 and are being employed as a care worker, home carer or senior care worker (under job occupation codes 6136 or 6146), you are no longer eligible to bring your dependent family members to the UK. 

Other Health and Care Worker visa holders (for example doctors and nurses) are still able to bring across eligible dependants.

2. I am already in the UK with a Health and Care Worker visa but have been dismissed from my job. Will I need to leave the country?

When your employment ends, your sponsor is required to inform the UKVI within 10 working days of your termination date. This report will then notify the UKVI that you are no longer being sponsored by that employer.

If you have more than 60 days remaining on your visa, the UKVI will usually shorten (“curtail”) your visa, and you should be given 60 days from the date you are notified of this curtailment in which to leave the UK or to file a new application. The 60-day period is discretionary.

3. Can I take on a second job with a Health and Care Worker visa?

Yes, the UKVI has recently relaxed the rules around Supplementary Employment (a second job, of no more than 20 hours per week) to allow sponsored workers to work in any qualifying occupation provided they continue working in the job for which they are sponsored. Any supplementary employment must take place outside of the normal working hours of your sponsored role.

If you work overtime for the job in which you are being sponsored, you do not need to update your visa and there is no limit to how many hours of overtime you can do from an immigration perspective.

You can also do unpaid voluntary work.

4. Can I apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR)?

Yes, you may qualify for ILR after five years of continuous residence in the UK as Skilled Worker visa holder, of which the Health and Care Worker visa falls under. This is also subject to meeting the absence requirement, which is 180 days in any 12-month period. You can apply for ILR up to 28 days before completing your five years continuous residency in the UK.

5. What is the minimum salary for a Health and Care Worker visa? Does it include my bonuses and allowances?

This depends on the role and your individual circumstances. You will usually need to be paid at least £29,000 per year, or the applicable rate for your role and circumstances, whichever is higher.

If, for example however, your role is based on national pay scales, the minimum salary is £23,200 per year or the applicable rate for your role and circumstances, whichever is higher.

6. Can I switch jobs with a Health & Care Worker visa?

Job Switch: You must apply to update your Health and Care Worker visa if:

• • • You change jobs to a different employer;
    • Your job changes to a different occupation code (unless you are in a graduate training programme); or
    • You switch from a job on the immigration salary list to one that is not.

Depending on the circumstances, you may need to submit a new visa application and have a new visa granted before starting your new role.

Additional Work: You can do additional paid work and unpaid voluntary work if you continue in your sponsored job. You may need to update your visa for additional paid work depending on the type and hours. The work must be in an eligible Skilled Worker occupation code.

There is no need to update your visa if you will be:

• • • Working overtime in your sponsored job; or
    • Doing ‘bank shifts’ for your NHS sponsor.
      
      

7. What do I need to apply for a Health & Care Worker visa?

To qualify for a Health and Care Worker visa, you must:

• • • be a qualified doctor, nurse, health professional or adult social care worker;
    • Hold an eligible health or social care job;
    • Work for a Home Office approved UK employer that holds a sponsor licence;
    • Have a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ from your employer detailing your role;
    • Provide criminal records checks for every country you’ve lived in for 12 months or more, in the last 10 years; and
    • meet the minimum salary, maintenance, and English language requirements.

There may be further requirements depending on the nature of the role and the country from which you will be applying.

8. Do I need to cover my own and my dependents’ maintenance?

Employer certifies maintenance: Your employer may certify your maintenance, confirming they will support you and your family for your first month of employment. This must be stated in your certificate of sponsorship.

Cover own maintenance: You must have at least £1,270 in your bank account for at least 28 consecutive days, with day 28 being within 31 days of your visa application. You will need to show evidence of funds unless you have had a valid UK visa for at least 12 months prior to the application.

Additional financial requirements also apply to dependents.

9. How many hours per week does the salary threshold relate to?

Salary: Usually, these going rates are per year and based on a 40-hour working week. They must be pro-rated for other working patterns, based on the weekly working hours stated by the applicant’s sponsor. 

Zero-hour contract: Sponsorship on a zero-hour contract is not permissible. If hired through an agency, the end client must be the sponsor.

10. My second job pays better than my sponsor, am I allowed to reject shifts from my sponsor so that I can work more hours on my second job?

Any Supplementary Employment must be outside the working hours covered by your CoS. The total weekly working hours must be within the 20-hour limit for Supplementary Employment.

Please note that the UKVI consider Supplementary Employment to be different to Secondary Employment.

Secondary Employment requires a sponsored work to hold a second CoS to cover their second job. This option is beneficially where a sponsored worker is required to work more than 20 hours per week for their second employer.

11. My sponsor is deducting money from my pay to cover my visa costs, is this legal?

Depending on the agreement that you entered into with your sponsor, they may be able to ‘clawback’ certain costs associated with your visa. However, you should ensure that the clawback agreement does not include any of the Immigration Skills Charge that your sponsor paid when assigning your CoS. The UKVI’s published guidance for Sponsors confirms that they “must not pass on any of the [Immigration Skills Charge (ISC)], or attempt to recoup it from, the individual.”

12. My family has just been issued with dependent visas, can my spouse work in the UK and can my children attend school here?

Yes, partners and child(ren) who have been issued with PBS Dependent visas are permitted to work and study in the UK during the validity of their visas. Please note that the following restrictions apply to the work and study conditions for PBS Dependents:

• • • Work: Work (including self-employment and voluntary work) is permitted, except as a professional sportsperson (including as a sports coach).
    • Study: Study is subject to the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) condition limiting study. The condition prohibits study in a discipline covered by Appendix ATAS of the Immigration Rules unless the individual obtains an ATAS certificate for their course or research before they start it.

Need to know more?

For more information on the UK’s Health and Care Worker visa, please contact Associates Jagjeet Kaur and Naomi Nyamaah at [email protected] and [email protected], respectively.

This blog was published on 14 January 2025, and due to the circumstances, there are frequent changes. To keep up to date with all the latest updates on global immigration, please subscribe to our alerts and follow us on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram.