Health & Care Worker
Doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals can still apply from overseas.
Overseas recruitment for Care Workers and Senior Care Workers closed in July 2025.
The rest of the key points ↓↑
- Care workers already in the UK can extend or switch sponsors until July 22, 2028.
- Care workers and senior care workers cannot bring dependants.
- Sponsors in England must be CQC-registered.
- Exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS).
Eligibility Checker
This is guidance, not legal advice. VisaExplain is not a law firm and is not regulated to give immigration advice. This tool applies published Immigration Rules to the answers you give and shows you the rule behind each result. It is general information — it is not a decision on your case, and it is not a substitute for advice from a qualified adviser.
Rules change, and your circumstances may include facts this tool does not ask about. Always check the official GOV.UK guidance, and take advice before you act. VisaExplain accepts no liability for any loss arising from reliance on this tool.
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Issued by a licensed UK employer
1 question still to answer
- Do you have a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)?
How an answer is produced
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01
What you enter
Your dates, visas, absences and circumstances.
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02
What we apply
The published Immigration Rules in force for those dates.
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03
What you see
A calculation, an explanation, and the rule it came from.
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04
What it cannot tell you
Whether an application will be granted, or what you should do.
What VisaExplain is not
VisaExplain is not a law firm and is not regulated to give immigration advice. It applies published rules to the information you enter. It is not a decision on your case, it does not know facts you have not given it, and it cannot tell you what to do.
How we produce our answers →Where the rules come from
Every route page cites the GOV.UK page or Immigration Rules Appendix it comes from, and every calculation records which dated policy version produced it.
The Health and Care Worker visa allows medical professionals to come to or stay in the UK to do an eligible job with the NHS, an NHS supplier, or in adult social care.
Continuous Residence & Absence Tracker
Calculate your exact ILR eligibility date against the 180-day absence rules.
Health & Care Worker Updates & Policy Breakdown
No published updates for this category yet.
Frequently Asked Questions
It sits within the Skilled Worker regime rather than alongside it. The sponsorship, English language and settlement rules are the Skilled Worker rules. What differs is the range of eligible roles, and some of the costs and salary provisions that apply to them.
For settlement purposes, time on this route is treated as Skilled Worker time — which is why one calculator covers both.
Eligibility is by occupation code, not by employer or by job title, and the list of eligible roles has been revised more than once. A role that qualified previously may not now. Check the current list of eligible occupation codes on GOV.UK before relying on a job offer.
Dependant rights on care-related roles have been restricted, and the position depends on your specific occupation and when you were first granted permission. Do not assume the position from another person's experience — check the rules for your own occupation code and grant date.