The Health and Care Worker route was introduced with the aim of attracting healthcare professionals from around the world to work in the UK’s healthcare sector – for the NHS, an NHS supplier, or in the adult social care sector.
Individuals can apply for this visa if they have been trained to a recognised standard, have good English language skills, and have secured an offer of employment/ sponsorship from an employer approved by the Home Office.
Foreign healthcare workers have been able to apply for this visa since 4 August 2020. At the end of September 2022, the latest figures revealed that within this 26-month period, over 88,000 applications for the Health and Care Worker visa were submitted by main applicants from outside the UK, with just over 94% of those approved.
Given the staff shortages in the NHS and social care sectors it is likely that these immigration statistics will continue to increase. There are already various benefits when it comes to applying for the Health and Care Worker visa over the mainstream Skilled Worker visa, with some of these shown in the below table.
| Health Care Worker visa | Skilled Worker visa | |
|---|---|---|
| Visa Application fee (5 year visa) | £479 | £1,235- submitted outside the UK |
| £1,423- submitted inside the UK | ||
| Immigration Health Surcharge (5 year period) | Exempt | £3,120 |
| Processing | Fast-track, as standard | Within 3 weeks, as standard if submitted outside the UK |
| Within 8 weeks, as standard if submitted inside the UK |
However, the obvious benefits of being sponsored under the Health and Care Worker route aside, not all healthcare sector roles qualify for this visa. The Home Office have a prescribed list of eligible jobs which include:
- residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors
- dental practitioners
- doctors
- nurses
- social workers
- midwives
- senior care workers
- care workers and home carers
Interestingly, the Home Office have only permitted care workers and home carers to be sponsored since 15 February 2022. Previous announcements explained that this is a temporary measure for 12 months; however, strategic discussions with our adult social care clients indicate there continues to be a sector-wide struggle with recruitment in these crucial roles, and so it would seem unlikely (though possible) that the Home Office would remove care workers and home carers from the list in the foreseeable future. We would therefore recommend that where feasible, sponsorship of care workers and home carers are offered sooner rather later and before the middle of February 2023 as a precautionary measure. That being said, as at the time of writing, there has been no formal announcement indicating that it will no longer be possible to offer sponsorship to care workers and home carers.
For more information on the Health and Care Worker visa category, please see our factsheet of FAQs. Interested in applying or have any questions on the Health and Care Worker visa? Contact our specialist immigration team today and let them help you embark on a career in the world’s leading health sector!
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