With an ongoing shortage of healthcare staff in the United Kingdom, the UK NHS welcomes healthcare professionals from across the globe to work in the UK NHS healthcare social sector. Applicants can reap benefits such as fast-tracked entry, fewer visa fees, and no immigration health surcharge. Recently, the UK government also announced increasing funding to help healthcare sectors hire employees from overseas under the healthcare worker route.

If you want a healthcare visa, we share the complete guide here. We’ll provide details about eligibility criteria, documents needed, the application process, etc. Let’s take a quick look.

What is a Healthcare Visa?

The Health and Care visa allows qualified foreign employees with specialized skills to enter the UK and work for authorized firms in certain positions. Specific medical providers, including physicians, registered nurses, chemists, and careers for adults, are eligible for the visa.

By providing an inviting pathway for overseas citizens to come to the UK for employment and be joined by immediate family members, with the opportunity to reside in the UK permanently, the visa is aimed to address the skills problem within the UK healthcare industry. A successful UK NHS visa holder gets an opportunity to work in the UK’s NHS best healthcare faculty for five years. Moreover, applicants can also extend their visas once the period is over. 

After five years, those on Health and Care visas are eligible for UK perpetual authorization to stay. With ILR status, workers may switch companies and jobs without needing to apply for extra visas since they’re no longer liable for UK immigration laws and are not constrained by visa sponsorship regulations.

 Who is Eligible for a UK Healthcare Visa?

Candidates with nursing degrees, qualified doctors and healthcare professionals can apply for a healthcare visa. Registered nurses in healthcare sectors can also apply for a UK NHS visa. 

The healthcare visa is open for candidates applying under the skilled worker route and wanting to do a job in the healthcare sector. A licensed sponsor must have provided work to the petitioner for them to be eligible for the visa, in addition to the position being within one of the aforementioned SOC categories. Additionally, the organization that sponsors it must belong to one of the groups delivering social care for adults, an NHS organization or trust, an integrator of medical facilities to the NHS, or any other health and social care providers named in the official advice. The following industrial associations’ employees, participants, or members may fall under this category:

• Nursing and Midwifery Council

• General Osteopathic Council

• General Chiropractic Council

• General Medical Council

• General Dental Council

• General Optical Council

• Health and Care Professions Council

• General Pharmaceutical Council

• Northern Ireland Social Care Council

• Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland

• Social Care Wales

 As additional verification of your suitability for a Health and Care Worker visa, you must describe the contractual agreements with the NHS if the UK sponsors are outside organizations that deliver medical care on the NHS’s behalf. Documentary support may also be required.

 What Are the Requirements of Healthcare Visa Requirements?

Applicants who want to apply for a UK NHS visa must meet the following requirements to get their visa under the skilled worker visa route.

• Applicants must have a valid COS letter (certificate of sponsorship) from a UK-licensed sponsor. 

• Individuals must have an offer from the UK NHS for jobs that meet the appropriate salary threshold.

• Candidates must have English proficiency or good score in IELTS and other tests.

• Candidates must provide proof of personal savings sufficient to support daily expenses on arrival in the United Kingdom.

• Individuals have to provide a travel history of around 5 years,

• Candidates must have a valid tuberculosis test report if they come under the listed countries.

• Individuals must also provide a clean criminal record from the country where they have lived for the past 10 years. If you’re living in another country for work, provide proof of a clean criminal record.

Your future company will be accountable for telling you you are qualified for the Health and Care Worker visa as a potential employee. You can appropriately fill out the visa paperwork if you do this. Additionally, your employer must include a brief justification in the note section of the CoS outlining how you will fulfill the suitable visa role criteria in your new position. 

What is the Minimum Salary of a UK NHS Visa Holder?

Before you proceed with the job, you must fulfill the salary criterion to be eligible. This implies that whichever is greater, you must be paid no less than the minimum pay level or the acceptable “going rate” for the position you have been given. The Home Office assigns a going rate to each qualifying position.

You must typically make a minimum of £10.75 per hour, or $26,200 per year. You must be paid no less than the current rate if the hourly wage for your function is higher than any of these. You wouldn’t satisfy the salary criterion, for instance, if the wage for the position was £25,000 annually but the average salary was £26,800.

In rare circumstances, even if your salary is below the minimum requirement, you could still be allowed to apply for a Health and Care visa. If you make at least £20,480 per year and meet one of the following requirements, you may be paid between 70% and 90% of the market rate for your employment.

• You must have a job offer in this shortage occupation.

• You must be under twenty-six and studying or taking professional training.

• You must have a technology, science, mathematics or engineering PhD relevant to your chosen occupation.

• Your role must be a scientific position or postdoctoral.

English Language Proficiency Requirement

Unless you are exempt, such as those who are a citizen of a nation with a large proportion of English-speaking people, you must demonstrate your proficiency in English by passing an approved English language test alongside a CEFR level of at least B1 in reading, writing, speaking, and listening, or by possessing a formal education that was instructed in English and is accepted by UK NARIC as being comparable to a UK undergraduate degree, master’s degree, or Ph.D.

If you’re attempting to become a physician, dentist, nurse, or midwife, you can use the evaluation of your employment body as evidence of your language proficiency.

How to Apply For a UK NHS Visa?

 You must first have a CoS allocated to you by the UK sponsor in order to submit an application for a Health and Care visa. You use this reference number to submit an online application on the Home Office website.

After completing the required information, the application procedure moves on to pay the necessary fee. Additional documentation will also need to be submitted with your application.

The Home Office will review the information and supporting documentation after receiving your application, and you could have the choice of:

• You will be given instructions on registering biometrics through an ID app.

•  If it is not feasible to reuse any of the biometrics provided with a prior application.

 Basic Documents Needed to Apply for UK NHS Visa

You need to cover a lot of information and documents to support UK NHS Via. You need to keep some basic documents in hand while applying for a visa.

• A valid passport and travel history document.

• Certificate of Sponsorship and reference number from the employer. 

• Name of the employer along with sponsor license reference number.

• Occupation details such as SOC code, job title and salary details.

The rest of the documents are the same as mentioned in the requirement.

What is the Processing Time for a UK NHS Visa?

Upon receiving, UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) will prioritize and expedite your petition for the Healthcare Worker visa.

Because of this, the overwhelming majority of healthcare professionals applying through this route may often anticipate a response to their application three weeks after submitting their biometric data. This is far speedier than the prevailing processing period for skilled worker visas, which may range from 8 to 20 weeks. It is advised to seek advice on current handling timelines while making your application because UKVI processing is still prone to delays due to the epidemic and the prioritizing of Ukrainian scheme applicants.

 A specialist NHS support & immigration processing expert is also available to assist, allowing visa applicants and sponsors to contact the expert staff at UKVI if they have any problems with the application procedure or their eligibility for the Health and Care visa.

 

Have More Queries About UK NHS Visa? 

Career Overseas is here as the leading immigration consultant in Chandigarh. Our professional team of counselors guides you regarding UK NHS visas. Let’s connect with us for a free consultant today!