Health and Care visa (Tier 2) Skip to contents of guide
Contents
- Overview
- Eligibility
- Knowledge of English
- Documents you must provide
- Apply
- Extend your visa
- Switch to this visa
- Family members
- Taking a second job
Health and Care visa (Tier 2) Overview
You can apply for a Tier 2 (Health and Care) visa if:
- you have a job offer from the NHS, an organisation providing medical services to the NHS or an organisation providing adult social care
- you’re from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland
- your sponsor has told you that you are eligible for it
You must be a qualified:
- doctor
- nurse
- health professional
- adult social care professional
Read ‘Part A’ of the Tier 2 guidance for a full list of eligible employers and professions.
Getting sponsored
You need to be employed by a licensed sponsor to apply to live in the UK.
Your sponsor checks that you can do the job they’re hiring you for and if it qualifies you for a visa. They’ll assign you a certificate of sponsorship to prove this.
They must also give you other information you need when you apply, for example how much you’ll be paid.
How long it will take
The earliest you can apply for a visa is 3 months before you’re due to start work in the UK. The date you can start work is listed on your certificate of sponsorship.
You should get a decision on your visa 3 weeks from the date you provide your biometric information.
You can also pay to get a faster decision.
Fees
A visa for up to 3 years costs £232.
A visa for more than 3 years costs £464.
The fee is the same whether you apply from inside or outside the UK.
Your dependants will also pay the same amount.
If you’re a citizen of Turkey or Macedonia a visa for up to 3 years costs £177 and a visa for more than 3 years costs £409.
Healthcare surcharge
You will not have to pay the healthcare surcharge.
If you’re applying to extend or switch in the UK
You’ll need to pay £19.20 to have your biometric information (fingerprints and a photo) taken.
Get a faster decision on your application
If you’re applying to extend or switch in the UK you can pay an extra £500 for the priority service to get a decision within 5 working days.
You can pay an extra £800 for the super priority service to get a decision:
- by the end of the next working day after providing your biometric information if your appointment is on a weekday
- 2 working days after providing your biometric information if your appointment is at the weekend
Working days are Monday to Friday, not including bank holidays.
Once you’ve got your decision letter, your biometric residence permit will take up to 10 working days to arrive.
How long you can stay
You can come to the UK with a Tier 2 (Health and Care) visa for a maximum of 5 years and 14 days, or the time given on your certificate of sponsorship plus 1 month, whichever is shorter.
You can start your stay up to 14 days before the start date on your certificate of sponsorship.
Example
Your start date is 15 July – the earliest you can start your stay is 1 July.
You can apply to extend this visa for up to another 5 years, as long as your total stay is not more than 6 years.
What you can and cannot do
You can:
- work for your sponsor in the job described in your certificate of sponsorship
- do a second job in certain circumstances
- do voluntary work
- study as long as it does not interfere with the job you’re sponsored for
- travel abroad and return to the UK
- bring family members with you
You cannot:
- own more than 10% of your sponsor’s shares (unless you earn more than £159,600 a year)
- get public funds
- apply for a second job until you’ve started working for your sponsor
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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
