The Health and Care Worker visa is the Skilled Worker route at a discount for clinical professions: a £324 fee for up to three years, full exemption from the health surcharge, and salary rules built on NHS pay scales with a £25,000 floor. Since July 2025 it no longer admits new overseas care workers — but for nurses, doctors, midwives and allied health professionals with registration in hand, it remains the best-priced work visa in the system.
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The Discounted Route for Clinical Professions
Structurally this is a Skilled Worker visa — same sponsorship, same five-year settlement path — with three privileges attached: sharply reduced fees, no immigration health surcharge, and salary rules that track NHS pay bands rather than the £41,700 general threshold. The route on gov.uk is reserved for qualifying health and care occupations with an approved health or care sponsor; everyone else in the hospital economy uses the standard route.
Who the Route Still Serves
Eligible Healthcare Professions
| SOC code | Profession | Registration |
|---|---|---|
| 2231 | Registered nurses | NMC |
| 2211 | Medical practitioners | GMC |
| 2232 | Midwives | NMC |
| 2221 | Physiotherapists | HCPC |
| 2222 | Occupational therapists | HCPC |
| 1171 | Health services managers | Role-dependent |
The July 2025 Reshaping
Closed Occupation Categories
From 22 July 2025, new overseas applications closed for care workers (SOC 6135) and senior care workers (6136), and several support roles below degree level left the route entirely. The closure's mechanics — who is protected, the in-country switching pool, the transition deadlines — are covered in our care worker closure guide; this post covers the route that remains.
Opportunities for Registered Professionals
For registered professions the route is fully open, and application volumes have fallen to a small fraction of their 2023 peak — the monthly entry clearance statistics track the collapse month by month. For an NMC-registered nurse or GMC-registered doctor with an NHS offer, the practical consequence is a quieter queue and sponsors keener than they have been in years.
Eligibility Requirements
Core Requirements in One List
A job offer in an eligible health or care occupation from an approved sponsor; a certificate of sponsorship; salary at £25,000 or the applicable pay-scale or going rate, whichever is higher; English at B1; professional registration where the role requires it; and £1,270 maintenance unless the sponsor certifies it. TB certificates apply by country as usual.
Fees and Applying
Current Fee Structure
| Item | Health and Care | Standard Skilled Worker |
|---|---|---|
| Fee, up to 3 years | £324 | £819 |
| Fee, over 3 years | £628 | £1,618 |
| Health surcharge | Exempt | £1,035 per year |
| Decision, from overseas | Usually 3 weeks | Usually 3 weeks |
The surcharge exemption is the quiet headline: a family of four on five-year visas avoids tens of thousands of pounds against the standard route. Dependants of Health and Care Worker visa holders share the exemption, which is why getting the route right at the outset — rather than defaulting to the standard Skilled Worker application — is worth real money.
The Money Rules
Salary Categories and Requirements
The floor is £25,000 or the job's going rate, whichever is higher — and for most clinical roles the operative figure comes from the national pay scales tables, organised by NHS band and UK region, rather than the standard going-rates publication. A handful of listed codes, health services managers among them, run on going rates instead. The route has no general new-entrant discount: the pay scale for the band is the pay scale for the band.
Professional Registration Pathways
Regulatory Bodies and Registration
Nurses and midwives register with the NMC through computer-based testing and the OSCE; doctors register with the GMC, typically via the PLAB sequence covered in our PLAB guide; allied health professionals register with the HCPC. Registration timelines vary widely by profession and case, and the sequencing rule never changes: registration drives the offer, the offer drives the certificate, the certificate drives the visa — run them in that order and start the registration first.
Family and Dependants
Dependant Rights by Category
Registered professionals in degree-level roles bring partners and children as dependants on the normal terms — sharing the fee discount and the surcharge exemption, with full work and study rights. The care worker cohort is where rights split: only those continuously employed in care roles on the route since before 11 March 2024 keep bringing dependants, one of the rules that reshaped care recruitment. Children born in the UK during the visa can be added without leaving.
Settlement and Citizenship
The Five-Year Path in Practice
Health and Care Worker time is Skilled Worker time for settlement purposes: five years' continuous residence within the 180-day absence rule, continued sponsored employment at the applicable rates, B1 English and the Life in the UK test — the full checklist is in our settlement requirements guide, and the wider journey sits with our settlement and citizenship team. Shift-heavy professions should watch the absence maths around overseas family visits; the 180-day rule counts whole days and rolls across every 12-month window. Citizenship typically follows a year after ILR, and our business immigration team plans the whole arc with NHS trusts and care providers as readily as with individual applicants.
Frequently askedQuestions about the Health and Care Worker visa
Which professions still qualify in 2026?
Registered clinical professions — nurses, doctors, midwives, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other regulated roles — plus eligible health management positions. New overseas care worker and senior care worker recruitment closed in July 2025.
What does the visa cost compared with a Skilled Worker visa?
£324 for up to three years or £628 for longer, against £819 and £1,618 on the standard route from overseas — and Health and Care applicants and their dependants pay no immigration health surcharge, the saving that dwarfs the fee difference over a five-year grant.
What salary do I need?
£25,000 or the rate for your job, whichever is higher — with most clinical roles priced by the national pay scales for their NHS band and region rather than the standard going-rates table. If the applicable scale rate exceeds £25,000, the scale rate governs.
Do I need professional registration before applying?
For regulated roles, yes in practice: NMC for nurses and midwives, GMC for doctors, HCPC for allied health. Sponsors assign certificates against registered — or registration-ready — candidates, so start the registration process before the job search, not after the offer.
Can I bring my family?
Degree-level and registered professionals can, with dependants sharing the reduced fees and surcharge exemption. Care workers can only bring dependants if continuously employed in care roles on the route since before 11 March 2024 — the cut-off that closed family sponsorship for newer arrivals.
Does the route lead to settlement?
Yes — five years' continuous residence within the absence limits, with continued sponsorship and the English and Life in the UK requirements, leads to indefinite leave to remain, and citizenship typically twelve months later. The requirements match the standard Skilled Worker route.
Tell us your profession, registration status and the offer on the table. We'll confirm the route, the pay-scale rate that applies, and the sequence from registration to visa that wastes no months.
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