Health and Care Worker visa

The Health and Care Worker visa is the Skilled Worker route with the price tag removed: the application fee drops to £324–£628, and — the far bigger saving — you and your dependants are exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge. For a family on a five-year visa, that exemption is worth well over £10,000.

Who qualifies

You need a job offer in an eligible health occupation — doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, and certain social care roles — from a sponsor that is the NHS, an organisation providing services to the NHS, or a provider in the health and social care sector. The mechanics are otherwise Skilled Worker mechanics: a Certificate of Sponsorship, an eligible occupation code, and English at the level the route requires (B2 for new applications since January 2026, with registration-body English often satisfying it).

Salary

Many eligible occupations sit on national pay scales (NHS bands, for example), and pay is assessed against the relevant scale rather than the standard £41,700 threshold. Occupations outside the pay-scale system follow normal Skilled Worker salary rules. Either way, the CoS must state pay that meets the applicable test.

The care-worker closure

Recruitment of care workers and senior care workers from overseas closed on 22 July 2025. Limited transitional arrangements remain for people already working in eligible care roles in the UK switching with their existing sponsor — check current guidance if this is your situation, because the conditions are specific. The qualified-professional occupations (nursing, medicine, allied health) remain open.

What changes at settlement

ILR is assessed on the same basis as Skilled Worker, including the salary test in force when you apply. The residence rules are in the settlement guide.