If you are a medical professional such as a qualified doctor, nurse, health professional or adult social care professional, you can apply for Health and Care Worker visa to come to or stay in the UK to work in an eligible health or social care job with the NHS (National Health Service), an NHS supplier (a business or organisation that provides goods, services, or equipment to the UK's NHS under a contract) or in adult social care.

Your health and care visa can be valid for up to 5 years before you need to extend it. You will be required to apply to extend or update your visa when it expires or if you change jobs or employer.

After 5 years of residence in the UK, you may be able to apply for a Health and Care Worker visa ILR (also known as ‘settlement’). ILR gives you the right to live, work and study in the UK for as long as you like, and apply for benefits if you are eligible.

Please note that from 22 July 2025, new overseas recruitment into “care workers and home carers” (6135) and “senior care worker” (6136) has been closed, with only limited in-country transitional arrangements available until 22 July 2028.

During this transition period between 2025 and 2028, no new dependants can accompany care workers. However, existing dependants retain their leave provided they already held valid leave when the rule change came into place or were granted under transitional rules.

Health and care worker visa route to ILR

You may obtain settlement in the UK through the Health and Care Worker route after 5 years of continuous lawful residence in the UK, provided you continue to meet the eligibility requirements. Importantly, the Health and Care Worker visa is a sub-category of the Skilled Worker route, so the settlement rules are largely the same.

1. Meet the eligibility requirements

The Health and Care Worker visa is a work visa that leads to ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain), also known as settlement, for qualifying healthcare professionals and care workers in the UK.

For health and care worker visa ILR, you will need to meet the eligibility requirements, including time spent in the UK, salary, and KOLL (Knowledge of Language and Life) in the UK requirements.

Qualifying period requirement for health and care visa ILR

You must have spent a continuous lawful period of 5 years in the UK before you can apply to settle. 

You normally must not have spent more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months. 

Your 5-year continuous residence in the UK must consist of time with permission on any of, or any combination of, the following routes:

1. UK Skilled Worker visa

2. UK Global talent visa

3. UK Innovator Founder visa

4. UK T2 Minister of Religion visa

5. UK International Sportsperson visa

6. UK Representative of an Overseas Business visa

7. UK Tier 1 visa, except Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur); or

8. UK Scale-up Worker visa

However, for 5 years of continuous residence in the UK, you cannot include any time you have spent here as a partner or child (a ‘dependant’) on a visa.

Salary requirements

Your employer/sponsor usually needs to pay you at least £25,000 per year or your job’s full going rate, whichever is higher. The going rates for many jobs in the health and care sector are based on national pay scales.

You can check your going rate in the table of national pay scales for eligible healthcare jobs listed by NHS pay band and area of the UK.

Health and care worker visa jobs with occupation codes with different salary requirements

If your Health and Care Worker visa is with a job that is in one of the occupation codes with different salary requirements, your employer must pay you £31,300 per year, £25,000 per year if your job is listed on the ISL (Immigration Salary List) or was at the time you applied, or your job’s ‘lower going rate’, whichever is higher.

Your employer must continue to need you for the job and pay you the salary that meets the salary requirements after you get ILR. Your employer will need to give you a document to confirm this.

Knowledge of Language and Life (KOLL) in the UK requirements

If you are 18 to 64, you will be required to pass the Life in the UK test before applying for settlement.

You do not need to show you satisfy the English language requirements when you apply to settle in the UK using your Health and Care Worker visa because you did this when you applied for your visa.

However, if you apply for ILR on or after 26 March 2027, you must, unless an exemption applies, show English language ability on the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) in speaking and listening to at least level B2.

But for ILR applications made on or after 26 March 2027, you can rely on a previous English qualification only if your current (or continuous) permission on health and care visa was granted based on your English qualification at CEFR B2 or above, and the test provider is still approved at the date of your settlement application. 

2. How to apply?

You must apply online on the gov.uk website on the specified application form, “Settle in the UK in various immigration categories: form SET(O)”. 

When applying for ILR, you will be told which documents you need to provide. For example, to show that:

• You have passed the Life in the UK Test

• you fulfil the minimum settlement salary threshold

• your employer/sponsor still needs you for your job 

3. When to apply?

The earliest you can apply to settle in the UK is 28 days before you have been in the UK for 5 years on a health and care worker visa. The Home Office may refuse your application if you apply earlier.

You are not required to wait until your current health and care worker visa expires. If your visa expires before you can apply for settlement, you will need to renew it first.

4. What is the application fee and how to enrol your biometrics?

The health and care worker visa to ILR application fee. It costs £3,226 for each person applying on or after 8 April 2026. 

You will usually be required to have your biometric information (fingerprints and a photo) taken at a UKVCAS (UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service) service point. 

5. Wait for a decision

The Home Office will usually give a decision within 6 months after you provide your fingerprints and photo. 

During this period, you must not travel outside of the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man. If you do so, your ILR application will be withdrawn.

You can pay an extra £500 to use the Priority Service or £1,000 for the Super Priority service to get a faster decision. These are costs on top of the application fees.

6. Get a decision

If your application for settlement through the health and care worker route is approved, you can work, run a business, study, use public services, such as healthcare and schools, and apply for public funds (benefits) and pensions.

You should be able to apply for British citizenship, usually after holding ILR for at least 12 months.

How can Visa and Migration Ltd. Help?

If you want to settle in the UK through the health and care worker route, we can help you successfully apply for a health and care visa ILR. We can ensure you meet each eligibility requirement, including time spent in the UK, salary, knowledge of the language, and life in the UK, as required by the Home Office, and prove them through strong documentary evidence. We can also help you include any children in your application.

If the Home Office has refused your application for ILR, we can help you apply for an Administrative Review, Appeal, Judicial Review, or simply reapply depending on the most suitable option for your case.

For expert advice and queries on the UK health and care worker visa to ILR, you can call us at +44 (0)20 3411 1261 or write to info@visaandmigration.com