You can apply for ILR as a Health and Care Worker after you have lived in the UK for 5 years as a Health and Care Worker or in combination with other permitted work visa categories. Your qualifying period can include time from the date your initial application (for entry clearance or leave to remain) was approved. You can apply for ILR as a Health and Care Worker 28 days before completing the 5 years qualifying period. An application for ILR as a Health and Care Worker migrant is made using application form SET (O).

Our expert team of Health and Care Worker visa solicitors are specialists in dealing with ILR applications for Health and Care Workers. As specialist Health and Care Worker visa solicitors, our highly qualified lawyers have wealth of knowledge and experience to provide high quality legal services for ILR application as a Health and Care Worker. The high quality of our legal services is self-evident from the reviews of our clients for excellent immigration services provided by our highly experienced and qualified immigration lawyers. Ask a question to our Health and Care Worker visa solicitors for free immigration advice or schedule an appointment for detailed legal advice concerning your ILR as a Health and Care Worker.

Eligibility Requirements For ILR As A Health and Care Worker Migrant

You can apply for ILR as a Health and Care Worker Migrant if:

• you have a Health and Care Worker visa
• you’ve been living and working in the UK for 5 years and spent no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months (‘continuous residence’)
• your employer (sponsor) still needs you for your job – they’ll need to provide a document confirming this
• you get paid the relevant salary listed in the Codes of Practice (Appendix J)
• Your application does  not fall for refusal under the general grounds for refusal

You should also:

• pass the Life in the UK Test
• meet the English language requirements

ILR Health and Care Worker – Combining Time Spent On Other Visa Categories

The applicant must have spent a continuous period of 5 years lawfully in the UK, of which the most recent period must have been spent with leave as a Health and Care Worker in any combination of the following categories:

• as a Tier 1 Migrant, other than a Tier 1 (Post Study Work) Migrant or a Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) Migrant,
• as a Health and Care Worker Migrant,
• as a Tier 2 (General) Migrant, a Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) Migrant or a Tier 2 (Sportsperson) Migrant,
• as a Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) Migrant, provided the continuous period of 5 years spent lawfully in the UK includes a period of leave as:
  • a Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) Migrant granted under the Rules in place before 6 April 2010, or
  • a Work Permit Holder, provided that the work permit was granted because the applicant was the subject of an Intra-Company Transfer,
• as a Representative of an Overseas Business,
• as a Highly Skilled Migrant,
• as a Work Permit Holder, or
• as an Innovator, or
• as a Global Talent migrant.

ILR Health and Care Worker – Absences From The UK

You cannot have had more than 180 days’ absence from the United Kingdom during any consecutive 12 month period within the 5 year period. You will need to list details of your absences from the United Kingdom, including the reasons for those absences, on your application form for ILR as a Health and Care Worker Migrant. You can include the time between your entry clearance being granted and you entering the United Kingdom as part of your continuous period. Absences between the date entry clearance is granted and the date you enter the United Kingdom are treated as an absence from the United Kingdom and will form part of the 180 days allowed within a continuous 12-month period. You do not need to provide evidence to demonstrate a period of absence between obtaining entry clearance and entering the United Kingdom.

For Health and Care Worker ILR applications made after 11 January 2018, Home Office would consider absences from the UK on a rolling basis, rather than in separate consecutive 12-month periods. If your qualifying period includes leave granted before this date, any absences during that leave will be considered under the previous rules – in separate 12-month periods, ending on the same date as you make your ILR application as a Health and Care Worker.

For example, you apply for ILR as a Health and Care Worker on 30 June 2020. Your continuous period includes the following grants of leave:

• One grant of leave from 1 July 2015 to 28 July 2018 – Any absences during this grant of leave will be considered in separate 12 month periods, ending on 30 June each year.
• One grant of leave from 29 July 2018 to 30 June 2020 – Any absences during this grant of leave will be considered on a rolling basis. Home Office UKVI will not include any absences from the previous grant of leave when they assess this.

Work Related Absences Or Absences In Line With Annual Paid Leave

If any of your absences are in connection with employment or in line with annual paid leave you will need to provide a letter from the relevant employer detailing the purpose and period of absences, including periods of annual paid leave.

You will need to provide this information for the full 5 year continuous period. Therefore, if you are moving employers and are considering applying for settlement in the future, you may wish to request a letter detailing your absences before you move to your new post. If you are unable to obtain a letter as specified in the Immigration Rules, because your previous employer has ceased to exist for example, you should confirm this in writing when you make your application. The caseworker who considers your application will assess this on a case by case basis.

Absences Due To Serious Or Compelling Reasons

If any of your absences are due to a serious or compelling reasons, you must provide a personal letter which includes full details of the reason(s) for the absences and all relevant supporting documents in relation to those reasons – e.g. medical certificates, birth/death certificates, other information about the reasons which led to the absence from the United Kingdom.

Whatever the reason for absences from the United Kingdom, they will still be counted towards the maximum 180 days unless they fall under a specific exemption. This includes any absences for work reasons, or serious and compelling reasons.

Exemptions Where Absences Are Not Considered

There are two exemptions where absences are not considered as part of the maximum 180 days:

• where you have been absent from the United Kingdom assisting with a national or international humanitarian or environmental crisis, or
• where you are working in a PhD level occupation and you have been absent from the UK because you are undertaking overseas research.

Super Priority Service (Decision Within 24 Hours) For ILR – Health and Care Worker

As the expert immigration solicitors based in London, we are registered with the Home Office, UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) and its commercial partners UKVCAS Sopra Steria to provide Super Priority Service (SPS) for your application whereby decision on your application will be made by the Home Office UKVI within 24 hours of the submission of the application at a designated service centre.

Our ILR solicitors can prepare and submit your ILR application to the Home Office, UKVI through Super Priority Service (SPS) and get decision on your ILR application within 24 hours. This way, you will not have to wait for the decision on your ILR application for months (sometimes years).

How Can We Help With Your ILR As A Health and Care Worker Migrant?

Our expert team of ILR solicitors specialize in ILR application for Health and Care Worker. If instructed to represent you regarding your application for ILR as a Health and Care Worker, we will carry out all the work on your ILR application until a decision is made by the Home Office UKVI on your ILR application. The immigration casework to be carried out by our expert team of ILR solicitors will include the following:

• Assessing your eligibility for ILR as a Health and Care Worker Migrant by considering all your personal circumstances including assessment of salary threshold, absences from the UK, any adverse immigration or personal history etc.
• Advising you on the weaknesses and strengths of your ILR application as a Health and Care Worker;
• Advising you on the relevant documents to be submitted in support of your ILR application;
• Assessing your documents to ensure that the documentary evidence is as per requirements of the Home Office UKVI immigration Rules;
• Completing and submitting the online application form SET (O) to apply for ILR as a Health and Care Worker by gathering all the relevant information from you;
• Helping you with paying the ILR application fee for your application;
• Booking your appointment with the UKVCAS biometrics enrolment centre for enrolment of your biometrics;
• Providing you with templates of certain documents e.g. a letter from your current and previous employer (if applicable);
• Providing you a template of letter from your current and previous employer (if applicable) to be submitted in support of your ILR application;
• Preparing your statement in relation to your absences from the UK where your current and/or previous employer has not issued a letter in relation to your absences from the UK during your employment with the relevant employer.
• Preparing a detailed cover letter to introduce and support your ILR application;
• Uploading online all the relevant supporting documents before you attend your appointment for enrolment of your biometrics;
• Liaising with the Home Office UKVI for a timely decision on your ILR application.