UK Health and Care Worker Visa Updates for Nurses

Recent updates to immigration policy have reshaped the UK Health and Care Worker visa route for internationally educated healthcare professionals. While registered nurses and midwives remain fully eligible for direct overseas sponsorship with key benefits intact—including fast-tracked processing and exemption from the Immigration Health Surcharge—overall financial and eligibility criteria have tightened. Minimum salary thresholds have increased, rules governing secondary care roles have changed, and strict transitional deadlines are now in place.

Salary Thresholds and Visa Criteria

To qualify for a Health and Care Worker visa (which operates as a sub-type of the Skilled Worker visa), applicants must meet a total of 70 points. Employers sponsoring candidates must be approved by the Home Office, and in England, social care providers must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Recent reforms have raised the general salary threshold across sponsored routes:

• General Salary Threshold: Increased to £31,300 (up from £29,000).
• National Pay Scales: Set at £25,000 for roles operating on national pay structures.
• Immigration Salary List (ISL): For eligible roles listed on the ISL, the threshold is set at either £25,000 or the occupation-specific rate, whichever is higher.

Healthcare professionals under this visa route remain exempt from paying the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) and benefit from reduced visa application fees alongside dedicated support services from UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI).

Nursing and Midwifery Occupation Codes

Registered nursing and midwifery professions are categorized under specific 2020 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes. None of the qualified registered nursing or midwifery titles are classified on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List (TSL), as they are sponsored under standard healthcare qualification routes.

The overall ISL is being phased out and will remain in place until December 2026. Six roles previously eligible under the broader Health and Care visa framework have been removed from eligibility entirely.

The table below outlines the official SOC codes for nursing and midwifery roles:

Profession	SOC Code (2010)	SOC Code (2020)	On ISL or TSL
Midwifery nurses	2232	2231	No
Registered community nurses	2231	2232	No
Registered specialist nurses	2231	2233	No
Registered nurse practitioners	2231	2234	No
Registered mental health nurses	2231	2235	No
Registered children’s nurses	2231	2236	No
Other registered nursing professionals	2231	2237	No
Nursing auxiliaries and assistants	6141	6131	Yes*

*Note: For nursing auxiliaries and assistants (SOC 6131), ISL eligibility only applies to roles in environments where registered nurse or other healthcare professional roles also exist. Updated wording for this requirement takes effect on 11 November 2025.

Changes to Care Roles and Dependant Rules

Major structural changes introduced in July 2025 directly impacted non-registered care occupations, closing off previous entry routes that some international professionals used while preparing for professional registration.

• Closure of Overseas Care Recruitment: Care workers (SOC 6135) and senior care workers (SOC 6136) can no longer be recruited from outside the UK.
• In-Country Transition Period: Overseas care workers already in the UK are not affected by the overseas recruitment ban. A transitional period runs until 22 July 2028, allowing workers already in the UK to extend their stay or switch employers within these codes.
• Payroll Requirement: To switch or extend under care codes during the transition, the worker must already be legally employed in the UK by their sponsoring employer and have been on that employer's payroll for at least three consecutive months before the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) is assigned.
• Dependant Restrictions: No new dependants are permitted to accompany or join care workers sponsoring under the 2025–2028 transitional arrangements.

Permanent Residency and Secondary Employment

Securing permanent settlement—known as Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR)—typically requires five years of continuous lawful residence in an eligible work route.

Under current immigration rule concessions, time spent in the UK under permission from another visa route while awaiting a decision on a Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker application can be counted toward the five-year ILR requirement. However, potential future changes to qualifying timeframes remain a subject of active debate; the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has warned that proposed plans to extend qualifying periods could lead up to 50,000 migrant nursing staff to leave the UK.

For professionals already in the UK who wish to take on additional work, switch employers, or change job roles, strict conditions apply:

• You must continue working for an approved sponsor in an eligible role.
• If you change employers or job roles, your new sponsor must assign a updated Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), and you must successfully submit an application to update your visa before starting your new position.

What This Means for You

If you are an internationally educated nurse or midwife planning your relocation, these regulatory changes highlight the importance of securing direct professional sponsorship under the correct occupation code.

Here are the practical steps to take when preparing your application:

1. Verify Your SOC Code: Ensure your job offer and Certificate of Sponsorship correctly reflect your specific professional title (such as SOC 2231 for midwives or SOC 2232–2237 for registered nursing specialties).
2. Confirm Salary Compliance: Check that your offered salary meets or exceeds the £25,000 national pay scale threshold or the general £31,300 minimum, depending on your employer's pay structure.
3. Avoid Unregulated Routes: Do not rely on overseas care worker visas (SOC 6135/6136) as an entry route, as new overseas sponsorship for these titles is entirely closed.
4. Plan Sponsor Changes Carefully: If you are changing jobs within the UK, ensure you have completed at least three months on payroll if working in transitional roles, and secure a new CoS before changing duties.

Navigating immigration requirements alongside professional registration demands clear, up-to-date guidance. Inside the WE Intelligence platform, we track the exact, step-by-step registration and visa requirements for international healthcare moves. For tailored, end-to-end guidance with your application, the team at WESolutions is available to provide hands-on paid support throughout your journey.