Health and Care Worker Visa For Ghanaians: Expert Advice & Application Help

GOV.UK states that a Health and Care Worker visa allows eligible medical professionals to come to or stay in the UK for an eligible job with the NHS, an NHS supplier or adult social care. The visa is part of the Skilled Worker route, and applicants must have an approved UK employer, a certificate of sponsorship, an eligible job and the required salary and English evidence.

Ghana is a significant source country for Health and Care Worker visa holders. Home Office earnings data for 2023–24 recorded 5,600 Ghanaian Health and Care Worker main applicants, with median annual adjusted earnings of £27,700 among those covered by the analysis.

The UK authorities designed the Health and Care Worker visa to help meet the demands for professional healthcare workers in the UK healthcare sector. Ghanaian applicants who hold this visa have the opportunity to settle in the UK permanently.

The Health Care Worker visa allows its holder to enter the UK and stay for up to 5 years and can extend it for as many times as they want.

From 22 July 2025, GOV.UK confirms that the UK immigration route for care workers and senior care workers closed to new applications from overseas. In 2026, new care-worker sponsorship from Ghana is therefore not available for entry clearance, although specific transitional provisions continue for eligible workers already in the UK.

Page Contents

• What Is The UK Health and Care Worker Visa?
• Health and Care Worker Visa Eligibility & Requirements For Employers & Employees
• Application Fees for the Health and Care 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
• How Can Total Law Help?
• Frequently Asked Questions

As a UK-licensed employer, to sponsor a Ghanaian health and care worker, you must:

• Apply online for a worker’s licence
• Be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and carrying on a regulated activity.
• Provide an open position that is eligible for sponsorship
• Have a suitable business
• Pay the sponsor licence application fee (£1,682 for medium and large organisations or £611 for small businesses and charities)

Your prospective Ghanaian employee must meet the Health and Care visa UK requirements. They must:

• Be certified nurses, doctors, health professionals, or adult social care professionals
• Have received a CoS (Certificate of Sponsorship) from you stating the roles you have offered them
• Be working in one of the eligible roles in the social or healthcare sector
• Have received a job offer from you
• Meet the applicable salary requirement, which depends on the occupation and may be based on a minimum threshold, the role’s going rate or an applicable national pay scale.
• Prove your English at B2 CEFR unless you qualify through another accepted route. An approved English test, a qualifying degree taught in English or an accepted professional English assessment may satisfy the requirement.

Ghanaian professional healthcare workers seeking to obtain Health and Care visas must pay their visa application fees depending on how long they intend to stay in the country. The fees they must pay include:

• £324 for 3 years per applicant
• £628 for more than 3 years per applicant

Note that the above-mentioned fees must be paid whether the applicant is applying from outside or within the UK. Ghanaian applicants must also have at least £1,270 in their bank accounts for their upkeep when they enter the UK.

The UKVI takes the UK Health and Care Worker visa applications as a top priority. For this reason, the UK Health and Care visa processing time typically takes about 3 weeks. However, your application may be delayed for some reasons, including:

• Incorrect information is found in your application
• Further documents are needed by the UKVI to process your application
• Your documents need to be verified
• The workload for the UKVI

The UK Health and Care Worker visa is valid for 5 years. You can apply to extend this visa before it expires provided you continue to meet all the eligibility requirements that granted you the visa initially. You can extend your visa if you continue to meet the route requirements; if you change employer or eligible job, you must apply to update your visa.

If you do not want to extend this visa, you can alternatively apply for indefinite leave to remain, provided you meet all the requirements. With your indefinite leave to remain status in the UK, you’ll be free from most UK immigration restrictions.

Ghanaian applicants seeking to obtain a Health and Care Worker visa have certain rights and restrictions in the UK. When you obtain the visa you will be allowed to:

• Get an additional job (depending on the situation)
• Do voluntary work
• Study
• Work in an eligible job
• Bring your dependents to come and join you in the UK (if eligible)
• Leave and re-enter the UK
• Seek permanent settlement in the UK after living in the country for up to 5 years and meeting other requirements

You will not be allowed to:

• Switch jobs or employers unless your visa is updated
• Access public funds or State Pension

Whether your partner or children can join you depends on your occupation, immigration history and the current dependant rules; care workers and senior care workers face significant restrictions.

Care workers and senior care workers currently use SOC 2020 codes 6135 and 6136, and their dependants can generally only qualify in limited transitional circumstances.

Eligible dependants make separate applications and can apply with you or later, provided they meet the relevant dependant requirements. You must also show proof of your family connection to them and show proof of additional funds to support them in the UK.