Who is Eligible for a Health and Care Worker Visa in the UK?
The UK Health and Care Worker Visa is for healthcare professionals across the world to arrive in the UK for employment in the health and social care sector in the UK.
Eligibility Requirements
Applicants of the Health and Care UK Visa have to fulfill all the suitable criteria specified for the Skilled Worker Visa pathway:
- Possess a lawful COS – Certificate of Sponsorship from an employer in the UK having a sponsorship license
- Possess an eligible job offer that fulfills the suitable threshold for salary
- Some applicants must possess adequate savings personally to support themselves upon arrival in the UK
- Possess good functional proficiency in the English language
- Be competent to demonstrate that you can travel and offer your travel records of the previous 5 years
- Possess an authentic test result for TB if you are from a listed nation
- Offer a criminal record certificate from any nation where you have resided for 1 or more years in the past 10 years if you will be working as a healthcare professional with vulnerable people
Minimum Salary Criteria
You have to be offered a minimum salary or the suitable ‘going rate’ for the role you have been offered, whichever is more. The UK Home Office offers a going rate for all qualified job roles.
The lower ceiling criteria for the majority of the Health and Care Visa applications filed after 4th April 2024 is £23,200 or the national pay scale for the occupation, whichever is more. Workers filing applications for an occupation that is not on the national salary scale will have to fulfill the general yearly salary ceiling of £29,000.
The fresh salary thresholds are applicable for applicants filing an application for the Health and Care Worker Visa for the first time or those who are applying for a Visa extension.
In some instances, candidates can apply for the Health and Care Worker Visa even if their salary is less than the necessary scale. The policies permit a salary scale of 70% to 90% of the going rate for the position. This is if the applicants fulfill the suitable lower ceiling criteria and the specific criteria as per the specific option included in the Home Office guidance, table 1.
- G Option: Minimum salary of £26,100 applicable: You have a suitable PhD
- H Option: Minimum salary of £23,200 applicable: You have a suitable PhD in STEM suitable to the job role you have applied
- I Option: Minimum salary of £23,200 applicable: You have an offer of a job included in the ISL – Immigration Salary List
- J Option: Minimum salary of £23,200 applicable: You are a ‘fresh entrant’ less than 26 years and are pursuing studies, a fresh graduate, or undergoing professional training
Maintenance Criteria
A few applicants will also have to demonstrate with proof that they can support themselves financially. If you are filing an application from overseas, then you are required to possess at least £1,270 in your bank account for a minimum of 28 successive days. The 28th day has to be within the 31st day from the date you applied for the UK Visa.
Candidates who are filing applications from within the UK and have stayed in the UK for a minimum of 1 year are exempted from this financial criterion. Alternatively, if the sponsor of the applicant has an A rating, they can offer a support letter that confirms their ability to cover the costs of the applicant for the first month in the UK.
English Language Criteria
You will have to prove that you have adequate proficiency in the English language. To achieve this you will have to offer results from an authorized test for the English language with a score of a minimum CEFR Level 1 in Listening, Speaking, Writing, and Reading. Alternatively, you must have an academic qualification with the medium of instruction in the English language and be acknowledged by ECCTIS as being on par with a PhD, Master’s, or Bachelor’s degree in the UK.
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