Healthcare Visa Sponsorship: Hire Care Worker from Overseas

UK Health and Care Visa Sponsorship for Healthcare Workers

To meet the increased demand for more workers in critical social care and health roles. A majority of employers in the sector are seeking out overseas talent to fill essential positions in healthcare.

This visa was launched in 2020. This visa is a points-based immigration route that allows qualified healthcare workers to enter the UK and do relevant jobs within the NHS or through an NHS supplier. Another relevant course is in adult social care.

Health and Care Worker visas are a part of the UK’s point-based immigration system for Skilled Workers. This is a fast-tracked, reduced-fee route that is tailored to medical professionals who have good English skills.

In keeping with the skilled worker route, this visa route required applicants to have a confirmed job offer from a sponsor who has been approved.

Since Brexit, the UK has seen the termination of free movement. Employers are looking to hire nationals from the EU who don’t hold lawful immigration status in the UK and need to get sponsorship to be able to enter the country.

Eligible Health and Care Occupations for UK Visa Sponsorship

The Health and Care Visa is applicable to medical professionals. Any health care worker applying for this visa needs to have a sponsorship with an eligible sponsor.

Workers in eligible industries include the following:

• Qualified doctor.
• Nurses.
• Pharmacists.
• Psychologists.
• Social workers.
• Occupational therapists.
• Paramedics.
• Medical Scientists.

Applicants must also fall into the following categories:

• Applicants need to be qualified as a nurse, senior care worker, adult social care professional, doctor, or health professional.
• Applicants need to work in one of the aforementioned social care or health jobs.
• Applicants need to work for UK employers that have been approved by the Home Office.
• Applicants are required to have a Certificate of Sponsorship from a UK employer that covers information regarding the job that they have been offered in the United Kingdom.
• Applicants need to be paid a minimum salary, at least, which is dependent on the type of work that the employee does.

Eligibility Criteria and Requirements for UK Health and Care Visa Applicants

To be considered eligible for a Health and Care Worker visa in the UK, workers need to meet certain criteria in the application process. These eligibility requirements include the following:

• The employee must be a qualified adult social care professional, nurse, doctor, or health professional.
• The employee needs to have an eligible social care or health job.
• The employee needs to have a confirmed job offer before they can apply for their visa.
• An applicant has to work for a UK employer that has been approved as eligible by the Home Office.
• The applicant needs to have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship for your job. This Certificate of Sponsorship will hold your (the employer’s) personal information and details regarding the job offer. This certificate is not a paper document but an electronic record. Sponsors should provide the employee with a Certificate of Sponsorship reference number that needs to be added to the visa application. This can only be used once, and it is necessary that it be used within 3 months of entering the UK.
• The employee needs to be paid at least a minimum salary in reference to the type of work they do.
• The applicant needs to prove knowledge of English by either:
  • Having passed an approved English language test.
  • Have an academic qualification taught in English that is recognized by UK NARIC as being equivalent to a British BA Degree, MA Degree, or PhD.
• The applicant needs to have personal savings that prove they can support themselves upon arrival in the UK. They need to have a minimum of £1,270 in their bank account to last 28 days. This must be present in their bank within 31 days before applying. This is used as proof that the applicant can provide for themselves. Should the applicant bring a spouse or dependents with them, they must also show that they can support this additional person(s) during this period in the United Kingdom.
  • The spouse or partner needs to have £285 available.
  • The primary dependent needs to have £315 available, and each additional child or dependent will require £200 each. However, this does depend on whether the application is done separately or with the primary applicant.
  • These fees are additional to the £1,270 required to support oneself.
• Should an applicant be applying for this visa with a spouse or child, they must provide proof of the relationship.
• The applicant needs to show that they can travel and provide a complete travel history from the previous five years.
• Should an applicant be from a particular country, they will require valid tuberculosis test results. Some of the countries that require this include:
  • Afghanistan.
  • Bangladesh.
  • Belarus.
  • China.
  • Ecuador.
  • Ethiopia.
  • Georgia.
  • Guyana.
  • Hong Kong.
  • India.
  • Indonesia.
  • Iraq.
  • Kenya.
  • Laos.
  • Malaysia.
  • Madagascar.
  • Mozambique.
  • Pakistan.
  • Peru.
  • The Philippines.
  • Russia.
  • Ukraine.
  • Vietnam.
  • Zambia.
• Every applicant needs to provide a certificate of their criminal record from every country that they have lived in for any period over 12 months, covering the last 10 years. This is critical for those working with vulnerable people.
• Each applicant who is from outside the EU, Norway, Switzerland, or Liechtenstein will require a blank page in their passport. This also applies to those who are from one of these countries but do not have a biometric passport with a chip in it.
• Certified translations of any documents that are not in Welsh or English.

Employer Guide to Sponsoring Health and Care Workers in the UK

At the beginning of 2022, the British government announced new rules that would allow Health and Care Worker visa sponsorship. This was announced because the employer first sought approval from the Home Office.

For an employer to sponsor an employee’s Health and Care Worker visa application, the employer needs to pay the employee the required amount and also needs to hold a valid sponsorship certificate.

Employers can apply for this certificate of sponsorship from the Home Office for a particular job or career in the country using the SMS (Sponsorship Management System). These certificates are typically approved in a single working day and enable the business to become an immigration-licensed sponsor.

How To Apply For A Health And Care Worker Visa

If your employee is applying for their visa from outside of the UK, they will be required to apply online; this is essentially the same process as is used for any other Skilled Worker visa.

Supporting Documents

For your employee to complete their visa application they will need to provide certain documentation. This includes the following:

• Documentation providing proof of their identity and nationality, which can be a passport or another relevant document.
• Valid proof that they know the English language.
• A Certificate of Sponsorship has been obtained by the employer from the Home Office.

The employee will also have to provide information regarding their job title, occupation code, annual salary, name of the business, and sponsor licence number, which can be found on the certificate of sponsorship.

The employee may need some additional documents depending on the country they are emigrating from and the job that they will be doing.

Fees

There are associated costs with getting a Health and Care Worker visa that need to be covered by either the approved employer or the employee. This includes the application fee or the visa.

The fee for the application is:
1. up to 3 years – £324 per person
2. more than 3 years – £628 per person

However, the overall amount will be based on a selection of factors. These factors include:

• Whether or not the applicant is applying from within the UK.
• The length of the employee’s intended stay.
• Whether or not the applicant is bringing family members with them.
• If the job is on a shortage occupation list.

Processing Times

It can take around 3 weeks for an applicant and employer to receive a decision back regarding a health and care visa application. This is one of the faster processing times for skilled worker visa types.

That being said, this time can be significantly shorter if the applicant is applying from within the UK.

Employees can start their application up to 3 months in advance of their start date with the company to ensure that they have their decision in time to move before beginning work.

Salary Requirements

There are a variety of salary requirements that may need to be met should your employee have one of a particular selection of occupation codes. These codes apply as follows:

• Health services, public health manager, and directors: 1181.
• Day, residential, and domiciliary care proprietors and managers: 1242.
• Biochemists and biological scientists: 2112
• Physical scientists: 2113.
• Lab technicians: 3111.
• Dispensing opticians: 3216.
• Pharmaceutical technicians: 3217.
• Home carers and care workers: 6145.
• Senior care workers: 6146.

Should the employee fall under any of these occupation codes, then certain salary requirements must be met for the visa to be applicable.

Generally, employees who fall under one of these occupation codes need to be paid a minimum of £29,000 per annum, or £10.75 per hour, whichever is higher. However, if the ‘going rate’ of the job is higher than both of these, it will typically be required that this going rate be the minimum.

An employee can still apply for a Health and Care Worker visa if the job is on the eligibility list but the salary is below £29,000, or if the job’s typical going rate is £10.75 per hour, regardless.

If an employee’s salary is typically £25,000 per annum, they may be paid between 70% and 90% of this going rate if they meet one of these criteria:

• If the job is in an occupation shortage.
• If the employee has a postdoctoral position in a scientific role.
• If the employee is under 26 years of age, a recent graduate, studying, or in professional training.
• If the employee has a technology, science, maths, or engineering PhD-level qualification that is relevant to the job, However, if the employee has a relevant PhD in another subject, then the salary has to be a minimum of £26,100.

A shortage occupation is a skilled occupation in which the UK is experiencing a shortage of workers. Should the job be on this list, the employee may be able to be paid 80% of the job’s typical rate.

Benefits of Hiring Overseas Healthcare Workers with UK Visa Sponsorship

Regardless of whether you operate a private health and social care operation or an NHS trust, the processes for hiring and sponsoring health and care staff from overseas are very beneficial for employers.

• The increased demand for workers who are skilled and the nature of these types of positions have resulted in this visa application becoming fast-tracked. These applications can take 3 weeks to be approved in some cases. However, you can get priority service and get a decision in 5 days.
• Businesses save money by sponsoring employees through this visa instead of using the skilled worker visa.
• It is cheaper to sponsor someone from overseas to work for you. It can cost £20,000 to £50,000 in maintenance loans over four years to train a nurse. Alternatively, a skilled professional who is applying from overseas and already has the qualifications needs no training fees covered.
• An increasing deficit in skilled workers in the health and care sector has caused a massive strain on nursing homes, dentists, hospitals, and other medical and care facilities. Having qualified employees from overseas fill these positions will help to increase functionality and restore the healthcare system in the UK.

How IAS Assists with UK Health and Care Visa Sponsorship Applications?

The UK Health and Care visa is still quite a new visa category, which means that it can be confusing. Although it is one of the easiest paths to skilled worker sponsorship visas,

Our lawyers at IAS are well-trained in all of the latest updates in UK immigration law, even in the recent health and care visa category. At IAS, we can help you understand the process for becoming a sponsor, what your sponsored employees need to do, and more.

The visa application processes are complicated, and since this visa is so new to the skilled worker visa type, it can be hard to navigate. However, IAS is here to help. Should you choose to employ someone through this visa, we can support you and the applicant through the whole process.

Our lawyers can talk you through the process of becoming a sponsor, help employees fill out visa application forms, assist in the gathering of relevant supporting documents for the application, and liaise with the Home Office.

Find out how IAS can help you get your employees secured with health and worker visas today by calling us at +44 (0)333 305 9375 or sending us an email to get started.