UK Health and Care Worker Visa: What You Need to Know
If you want to work in the UK for a long term and ultimately obtain citizenship, there are multiple visa options available, among which the Skilled Worker visa and Heath and Care visa are the most popular ones. We have introduced the Skilled Worker visa in our previous articles. Today, we will explain the Health and Care visa.
What Is It?
The UK Health and Care Worker visa is a new visa route that was introduced in October 2021. It is designed to attract highly skilled healthcare professionals from outside the UK to work in the NHS, adult social care, or other healthcare-related roles.
To be eligible for a Health and Care Worker visa, you must:
- Be a qualified healthcare professional. This includes doctors, nurses, pharmacists, paramedics, and other healthcare professionals with equivalent qualifications.
- Have a job offer from a UK employer that is licensed to sponsor overseas workers.
- Meet the English language requirements.
- Be able to pay the visa application fee.
- Meet certain salary requirements. The minimum salary requirement depends on the type of job you are applying for.
Once you have been offered a job in the UK, your employer will need to apply for a sponsorship licence from the Home Office if they do not already have one. The employers on UK Visa Jobs have sponsorship licenses and actively hire foreign nationals. Therefore, when you apply for jobs via UK Visa Jobs, you will not have the hassle of your employer needing to apply for a sponsorship license.
How to Apply for the Visa?
To apply for a Health and Care Worker visa, you will need to:
- Complete an online application form on the Home Office's website.
- Pay the visa application fee.
- Provide your passport and other supporting documents.
- Attend a biometrics appointment.
The processing time for a Health and Care Worker visa is typically 3 weeks. However, it can take longer if your application is complex or if there is a backlog of applications.
If your application is successful, you will be granted a visa that allows you to live and work in the UK for up to 5 years. After 5 years, you can apply to settle in the UK, which leads to UK citizenship.
Benefits of the Visa:
The Health and Care Worker visa is a great opportunity for healthcare professionals from around the world to come to the UK and work in the NHS or adult social care. The visa offers a number of benefits, including:
- The opportunity to work in a world-class healthcare system.
- The chance to make a real difference in the lives of patients.
- The opportunity to live and work in a vibrant and multicultural city.
- Permanently settling in the UK after 5 years if you meet the requirements.
The Recent Policy Change:
Starting from 11/03/2024, care workers on the Health and Care Worker Visa cannot bring their family dependants anymore. If you are granted the visa before this date and have brought your dependent to the UK already, you will not be impacted. In addition, employers or social care firms in England will need to undertake Care Quality Commission-registered activities to sponsor visas. Those policy changes may deter some healthcare professionals from choosing the UK as their career destination. However, the Health and Care Worker Visa still offers many benefits for ambitious healthcare workers.
If you are a qualified healthcare professional and you are interested in working in the UK, you can start applying for Health & Care related jobs in the UK. In order to apply, you can simply use the filter on the left side of our job board, tick the "Healthcare & Pharmaceutical" option, and apply filters. Please remember that you cannot apply for a Health and Care worker visa without having a job offer, even if you meet all other requirements.
Normally, the following jobs are eligible for the Health and Care Worker visa:
- Doctors
- Nurses
- Pharmacists
- Paramedics
- Allied health professionals
- Social care workers
- Healthcare support workers
You can search for those key phrases in the search box to locate the jobs you want to apply for.
Conclusion:
The Health and Care Worker visa is a great opportunity for healthcare professionals from around the world to come to the UK and work in the NHS or adult social care. The visa offers a number of benefits, including the opportunity to work in a world-class healthcare system, the chance to make a real difference in the lives of patients, and the opportunity to live and work in a vibrant and multicultural city. If you are a qualified healthcare professional and you are interested in working in the UK, please check out our job board for visa-sponsored jobs at NHS and in other healthcare providers.
