UK Healthcare Worker Visa for Spaniards

The UK Health and Care Worker Visa allows a healthcare worker to come from Spain to the UK and work in an eligible job for the NHS, as an NHS supplier, or adult social care. To qualify for this visa, healthcare workers should be qualified doctors, nurses, or adult social care professionals.

One of the main purposes of the visa is to attract non-UK nationals to take up positions in the NHS and qualifying care roles to relieve the labour shortage in the sector. As the British healthcare service is one of the most admired in the world, the Healthcare Worker Visa allows eligible professionals from Spain to fill vacant roles.

According to government statistics, the UK Healthcare Worker Visa represented over half of all Skilled Worker Visas issued in 2023.

Page Contents

• What Is the UK Health and Care Worker Visa?
• Health and Care Worker Visa Eligibility & Requirements for Employers & Employees
• Application Fees of UK Healthcare Worker Visa
• Health and Care Worker Visa Step-By-Step Application Process
• The Typical Application Processing Time
• Extending / Renewing the Health and Care Worker Visa
• What Health and Care Workers Can and Cannot Do
• Bringing Dependants
• Our Total Law Legal Team Can Help Your Business
• FAQs

Employees must fulfil the following Healthcare Worker Visa requirements:

• Be a qualified medical doctor, nurse, healthcare professional or adult social care professional
• Have an offer of employment in an eligible healthcare or social care job
• Work for a Home Office-approved UK employer
• Hold a certificate of sponsorship issued by the employer detailing the role offered
• Receive a minimum salary reflective of the position held
• Prove they can speak, read, write and understand English to at least level B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages scale

Only Home Office-approved employers can sponsor people coming to the UK under the Health and Care Worker Visa. As an approved employer, you must provide employees with a certificate of sponsorship as soon as you confirm their eligibility. Employees need this to apply for their Healthcare Worker Visa.

Employers must ensure that the position offers at least the minimum wage of £25,000 or £29,000 for roles, not on a national pay scale. This applies to new applications and visa extensions. Employers must also adhere to UK rules regarding the number of hours worked per week. Failure to do this can result in the refusal of the Healthcare Worker Visa application.

If you are an employer of care workers, your business or organisation must be registered with the Care Quality Commission.

The fees applied to the Healthcare Worker Visa application process will depend on how long the employee will be in the UK. The standard fee for a visa of less than three years is £304 per person; for a visa of more than three years, the cost is £590 per person. Whether the employee applies for the visa from within or outside the UK has no bearing on the application fee; it is the same for both.

Employees must have sufficient financial resources to support themselves in the UK, with at least £1,270 in their bank account. They must prove this money has been available for 28 consecutive days, the 28th day of which must be within 31 days of when they apply for their Health and Care Worker Visa.

Proof of this financial subsistence will be required unless the employee has been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months or you, as the employer, intend to cover their costs for the first month. If you intend to support your employee for the initial period in the UK, you must include this on their certificate of sponsorship by completing the ‘sponsor certifies maintenance’ section.

To sponsor employees, you need a sponsor licence, for which a fee is payable. Small businesses and charities are charged £574, while medium and large organisations pay £1,579. Sponsor licences typically take about eight weeks to process.Health and Care Workers Visa Holders are exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge.

Your potential employee must apply for the Healthcare Worker Visa online. To prove their identity workers may use the UK Immigration: ID Check smartphone app to scan their passport or other identity document and then submit a digital photo of their face. Alternatively, they can make an appointment at a visa application centre. At this appointment, they will have your fingerprints and photo taken, this is called biometric data.

The required documents for a Healthcare Worker Visa include the following:

• Valid passport or other travel document
• Reference number from a certificate of sponsorship
• Evidence of knowledge of English e.g. a Secure English Language Test result or proof of eligible academic qualifications taught in English
• Job occupation code
• Job title and salary
• Employer’s name and sponsor licence number
• Proof of sufficient finances for the first month in the UK
• TB test certificate, if applicable
• Criminal record certificate, if applicable

This list is not exhaustive, and each applicant’s required evidence will depend on their situation. Any documents in Spanish will need to be translated into English or Welsh, and these must be certified translations.

Applying for a Health and Care Worker Visa can be complicated and confusing. That’s why it pays to have the assistance of an experienced immigration specialist. Total Law is familiar with what is required for workers to come from Spain to the UK and we can guide employers and workers through each area of the visa application. Call us today on 0333 305 9375 to discuss your needs.

Employees can apply for a Health and Care Worker Visa up to three months before the start date of their employment. This date will be on the employer’s certificate of sponsorship.

Online applications, with all relevant and necessary supporting paperwork, including identity documents, will typically receive a decision within three weeks. However, if applicants have to visit a visa application centre to prove their identity, the process may take longer.

For a faster decision, it’s possible to pay for a ‘priority service,’ which means getting a decision within five working days. This service costs £500 on top of the visa application fee. Alternatively, applicants can use the ‘super priority service,’ which costs £1000 in addition to the visa fee. This service provides a decision by the end of the next working day if the appointment is on a weekday or within two working days if the appointment is on a bank holiday or weekend.

Some employers may pay for fast-tracking services as part of the recruitment process to speed up filling vacancies.

The number of people who can apply through the priority services is limited, so not all applicants may be offered this option. However, they can still apply through the standard service.

To extend a Health and Care Worker Visa, the following conditions must be met:

• The worker must be in the same job as when granted the visa
• They must have the same occupation code as the job they had when granted the original visa
• They must still work for the same employer who provided the current certificate of sponsorship
• Continue to meet the salary requirements

Employees must apply to update their visa if any of the following applies:

• Wish to change jobs and the new position is with a different employer
• The job they’re doing changes to a different occupation code, and they’re not part of a graduate training program
• They leave their current job which is on the immigration salary list, for a job not on this list

As long as workers meet the eligibility conditions, they can renew their Healthcare Worker Visa as often as they wish. After five years, they may apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain, which will allow them to live and work in the UK without any time constraints.

There are benefits and limitations associated with this type of visa. Healthcare Worker Visa benefits mean that holders can:

• Work in an eligible job
• Volunteer
• Study
• Take on additional work such as NHS bank shifts or overtime in their sponsored employment
• Go abroad and return to the UK
• Bring a partner or dependants, if they are eligible
• Apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after five years

However, some things applicants cannot do on a Healthcare Worker Visa include applying for state benefits or changing employers without updating their visa.

Recent changes mean that overseas care workers and senior care workers can no longer bring their dependants to the UK on a Health and Care Worker Visa. Only those whose applications were begun before the rule change in March 2024 will be eligible to include dependents in their visa applications.

All other occupation codes for the Healthcare Worker Visa can continue to bring dependents to the UK.

A dependant partner is a husband, wife, civil or unmarried partner. A dependant child is someone under 18, including those born in the UK during the worker’s stay or over 18 if they are currently in the UK as the worker’s dependant.

Applicants must provide evidence of their relationship with their dependents. Proof of the relationship with a partner must include one of the following:

• Evidence of a marriage or civil partnership recognised in the UK
• Proof of living together in a relationship for at least two years
• Evidence of a relationship of at least two years but where the couple cannot live together due to work, study or cultural constraints

Those not living together must prove an ongoing commitment to regular communication, mutual financial support, care of shared children, and spending time together.

Any children on the visa must live with the applicant unless they are at university or boarding school. They must not be married or in a civil partnership. Proof of their address, such as a bank statement, driving licence, or NHS registration document, is required.

Sufficient funds to support dependants must be available while they are in the UK in addition to the £1,270 needed to support the main applicant. These amounts are £285 for a partner, £315 for the first child and £200 for each additional child. The application fees for dependants will be the same as the main applicant’s fees.