The health and care visa falls under the skilled worker route and allows eligible health workers to come or stay in the UK to work for the NHS, an NHS supplier or in adult social care.
The benefits of the health and care visa are fast-track entry, reduced visa application fees, exemption from paying the immigration health surcharge and support from a dedicated UKVI team for applicants and their families.
Eligibility
To qualify for a health and care visa, you must be a qualified doctor, nurse, health professional or adult social care professional and you must be working or have been offered a job which falls under one of the following codes:
- 1181: health services and public health managers and directors
- 1242: residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors
- 2112: biological scientists and biochemists
- 2113: physical scientists
- 2211: medical practitioners
- 2212: psychologists
- 2213: pharmacists
- 2214: ophthalmic opticians
- 2215: dental practitioners
- 2217: medical radiographers
- 2218: podiatrists
- 2219: health professionals that are ‘not elsewhere classified’, such as audiologists and occupational health advisers
- 2221: physiotherapists
- 2222: occupational therapists
- 2223: speech and language therapists
- 2229: therapy professionals that are ‘not elsewhere classified’, such as osteopaths and psychotherapists
- 2231: nurses
- 2232: midwives
- 2442: social workers
- 3111: laboratory technicians
- 3213: paramedics
- 3216: dispensing opticians
- 3217: pharmaceutical technicians
- 3218: medical and dental technicians
- 3219: health associate professionals not elsewhere classified
- 6141: nursing auxiliaries and assistants
- 6143: dental nurses
- 6145: care workers and home carers
- 6146: senior care workers
Employer
You must also be working or have been offered a job by a UKVI approved employer who holds a Sponsor licence. If your employer does not hold a licence, they will need to obtain a licence prior to being able to sponsor you. The sponsor must be the NHS, an organisation providing medical services to the NHS, an organisation providing adult social care or an organisation which is on the UKVI list of eligible employerse.g. this could be a person employed or engaged by or registered with one of the following organisations:
- General Chiropractic Council
- General Dental Council
- General Medical Council
- General Optical Council
- General Osteopathic Council
- General Pharmaceutical Council
- Health and Care Professions Council
- Northern Ireland Social Care Council
- Nursing and Midwifery Council
- Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland
- Scottish Social Services Council (under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001)
- Social Care Wales
Certificate of sponsorship
A certificate of sponsorship, an electronic record confirming details of your employment, must be assigned to you by your employer. The certificate of sponsorship should also include an explanation of how you meet the eligibility criteria of a health and care visa. If your employer is an organisation that provides services commissioned by the NHS, evidence of the contract arrangements with the NHS may need to be submitted to UKVI as proof that the eligibility criteria has been met.
Minimum salary requirement
The minimum salary requirement will depend on the code under which your role falls. You will either need to be paid £20,480 per annum, £25,600 per annum or the ‘going rate’ for the code whichever is higher.
English language requirement
You will need to prove that you can read, write, listen and speak English at level B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) Scale.
You can meet this requirement if:
- You have passed a Secure English Language Test from an approved provider
- You have a degree-level academic qualification that was taught in English; you will need to obtain comparability statements from Ecctis
- You have a GCSE, A level, Scottish National Qualification level 4 or 5, Scottish Higher or Advanced Higher in English, obtained while at school in the UK when you were under 18
- You are a national of majority English speaking country
You do not need to prove your knowledge of English if you are a Doctor, Dentist, Nurse or Midwife and you have already passed an English language assessment that is accepted by the relevant regulated professional body.
Criminal record certificate requirement
If you are applying from outside the UK, you will need to provide a criminal record certificate unless your role falls under one of the following occupation codes: biological scientists and biochemists (2112) or physical scientists (2113).
If you are aged 28 or over, you will need to provide a certificate from each country that you have stayed in during the past 10 years.
If you are under 28, you will need to provide a certificate from any country where you have lived for 12 months or more since the age of 18.
How can Mulgrave Law assist?
Our team of expert immigration lawyers, Solicitors have extensive experience in UK visa applications including health and care and skilled worker applications. We can assist with the application process from advising on eligibility to submission of the application.
If you are an employer and require advice on any aspect of sponsoring migrant workers, contact our team of expert immigration lawyers. Our initial consultation is free of charge.
We serve London and beyond, if you are looking for Local Immigration Lawyers in London or Local Immigration Solicitors in London, get in touch with us now!
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