Health and Care Visa Extension

You can extend/renew your Health and Care Worker visa before the expiry of your current Health and Care Worker leave or if you are changing job and being sponsored by a different Health and Care Worker sponsor. Your prospective Health and Care Worker sponsor will need to assign you a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) for you to apply for Health and Care visa extension. You cannot apply for Health and Care Worker visa extension from outside the UK. For extension of Health and Care Worker visa, you must be sponsored by NHS, an NHS supplier or a care home to do an eligible job in the UK. Those applying for the Health and Care visa are exempt from having to pay the Immigration Health Charge and have lower visa application fees.

The Health and Care Worker visa is a Point Based System (PBS) visa category and points can be awarded for the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), job skill level, English language, appropriate Salary, Phd level qualifications, job in shortage occupation, and applicant being new entrant. A total of 70 points are required to be eligible to apply for Health and Care Worker visa; 50 points from mandatory non-tradable points and the remaining 20 from tradable points.

Our expert team of immigration solicitors are specialists in dealing with Health and Care Worker visa extension/renewal applications. Our highly experienced and well-qualified work visa solicitors have wealth of knowledge and experience to provide high quality legal services for Health and Care Worker visa extension applications. Ask a question to our worker visa solicitors for free immigration advice or schedule an appointment for detailed legal advice concerning your Health and Care Worker extension matter.

Eligibility Requirements For Health and Care Worker Visa Extension

You should meet the following requirements for renewal/extension of your Health and Care Worker visa:

• You must have current permission to enter or stay on a Health and Care Worker visa;
• You must score 50 points from mandatory non-tradable points;
• You must score at least 20 points from tradable points;
• You must have have funds for maintenance in the UK or your Health and Care Worker sponsor has certified your maintenance;
• You must meet the suitability criteria and not fall for refusal under the general grounds for refusal.

The employer is required to include a brief explanation in the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) setting out how the employee meets the Health and Care Visa eligibility requirement. The employer will also be responsible for informing the applicant they are eligible for the Health and Care Visa so the applicant can correctly complete the visa application form. Where an employer is an organisation that provides services commissioned by the NHS, evidence of the contract arrangements with the NHS may need to be provided to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) as proof that applicants are eligible to apply for a Health and Care Visa.

Mandatory Non-Tradable Points (50 Points Required)

The applicant must score 50 mandatory non-tradable points to succeed in an application for extension of Health and Care Worker visa and the remaining 20 can be scored from tradable points. The mandatory non-tradable points are given in the table below:

Tradable Points (20 Points Required )

The applicant must score at least 20 points from the tradable points. The applicant may only score from one entry from each of the two sections of tradable points as given below:

Salary Section

Other Section

Change Of Employment Applications

You must make a change of employment application if you wish to change employer. You must have a new Certificate of Sponsorship from your new Health and Care Worker sponsor and you must meet all the points requirements.

You must also make a change of employment application if you are remaining with the same employer but:

• there is a change to your core duties which means you change jobs to a different Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code other than one related solely to the reclassification from SOC 2000 to SOC 2010; or
• under TUPE (or similar) protection you change jobs and the new job is in the same SOC code, but your new salary is less than the appropriate rate for the new job as shown in the relevant code of practice; or
• you are remaining with the same sponsor but there is a change to your core duties which means you change jobs from a job which is currently on the shortage occupation list to a job which is not on the shortage occupation list; or
• your pay reduces from the level indicated on your current Certificate of Sponsorship, other than changes due to company-wide reductions defined as acceptable in the Sponsor Guidance, or reductions due to maternity, paternity, adoption leave, and/or a period of sick leave that lasted for one month or longer; or
• changes to your core duties which means your job changes within the same SOC code provided your pay remains above the acceptable rate for the new job.

A change of employment application is not required for other changes to your job. For example if you are remaining with the same employer and change jobs to a different job within the same  SOC code, your pay increases, or you are moving under TUPE (or similar) protection due to takeover, merger, or de-merger or any other circumstances in which TUPE is triggered.

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

As the expert Health and Care Worker visa 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 enrolment of biometrics at a designated service Centre.

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

Occupation Codes For Health and Care Visa

Your job must be in one of the following occupation codes to qualify for the Health and Care Worker visa:

2112: biological scientists and biochemists
2113: physical scientists
2211: medical practitioners
2212: psychologists
2213: pharmacists
2214: ophthalmic opticians
2215: dental practitioners
2217: medical radiographers
2218: podiatrists
2219: health professionals that are ‘not elsewhere classified’, such as audiologists and occupational health advisers
2221: physiotherapists
2222: occupational therapists
2223: speech and language therapists
2229: therapy professionals that are ‘not elsewhere classified’, such as osteopaths and psychotherapists
2231: nurses
2232: midwives
2442: social workers
3213: paramedics

Approved UK Health and Care Sector Employers

You must have a job offer from an approved UK employer holding sponsor licence before you apply for a Health and Care Worker visa. Approved employers are also known as sponsors, because they are sponsoring you to come to or stay in the UK.

You must have a job offer from:

• the NHS
• an organisation providing medical services to the NHS
• an organisation providing adult social care

If your employer is not currently approved, they can apply for a sponsor licence if they are eligible. Our specialist team of immigration solicitors can help your employer with an application for sponsor license.

Salary Requirements

Your employer with sponsor licence need to pay you a salary of at least £20,480 per year unless the ‘going rate’ for your job is higher than this. Each occupation code has its own annual going rate. How you find the going rate depends on your job and occupation code. Salaries are listed by NHS pay band and area of the UK you’ll be working in.

Reduced Visa Fee

Health and Care Visa applicants will pay the reduced application fees. The visa fee reduction applies to partners and dependants of Health and Care Visa applicants. In addition to the reduced visa fee, applicants applying for the Health and Care Visa, and their family are exempt from having to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge.

Fast Track Service

The Home Office UKVI will prioritise Health and Care Visa applications, with the aim that the vast majority are processed within three weeks from the point the applicant has provided their biometric information.

Dedicated NHS Support and Visa Processing Team

There is dedicated support available, enabling Health and Care Visa sponsors to contact UKVI’s specialist team if they have any issues with the application process or eligibility for the health and Care Visa. Sponsors can contact UKVI’s dedicated NHS team at the following email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

How Can We Help With Your Health and Care Worker Visa Extension?

Our specialist team of Health and Care Worker visa solicitors can provide fast, friendly, reliable and fixed fee legal services for your application for extension of Health and Care Worker visa. As your appointed legal representatives for Health and Care Worker visa renewal application, our work can include the following:

• assessing your eligibility for extension of your Health and Care Worker visa by considering all the relevant eligibility requirements;
• if you are changing employer, assisting your prospective Health and Care Worker sponsor with correctly assigning the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to you;
• advising on relevant documents to be submitted in support of the Health and Care Worker visa extension application;
• assessing the documentary evidence including the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to ensure that the documents are in line with the Home Office UKVI requirements for renewal of Health and Care Worker visa;
• completing online application form for extension of Health and Care Worker visa;
• preparing a detailed cover letter in support of your Health and Care Worker extension application to explain in detail how all the relevant requirements for renewal of Health and Care Worker visa have been satisfied by the applicant;
• submitting the Health and Care Worker extension application online, paying the Home Office UKVI fees for Health and Care Worker visa extension application and booking applicant’s appointment with the UKVCAS application centre;
• uploading all the supporting documents online in support of the Health and Care Worker visa extension application;
• doing all the follow up work including responding to any queries raised by the Home Office UKVI until decision is reached on your Health and Care Worker visa extension application.