UK Care Worker Visa Cost 2026: Health and Care Worker Route Fees and Closure

TL;DR

The Health and Care Worker visa carries a Home Office application fee of £304 for stays of up to 3 years and £590 for longer stays, plus full Immigration Health Surcharge unless the role is NHS clinical (which is exempt). From April 2025, the route is closed to new overseas care worker recruitment, although NHS clinical roles continue to use the same route. Transitional rules, the IHS exemption mechanics, and a worked NHS nurse example follow below.

Last reviewed: 31 May 2026

The 2026 fee schedule (application fee, exemptions)

The Health and Care Worker visa is a sub-category of the Skilled Worker route with a discounted application fee schedule. The discount reflects the policy intention, set out in the November 2020 Statement of Changes that introduced the route, to maintain a low-friction immigration channel for NHS clinical staff and certain regulated care occupations. The 2026 fee rates are:

Outside UK, up to 3 years: £304 per person
Outside UK, more than 3 years: £590 per person
Inside UK, up to 3 years: £304 per person
Inside UK, more than 3 years: £590 per person

Uniquely among Skilled Worker variants, the Health and Care Worker route charges the same fee inside and outside the UK, with no in-country premium. This was a deliberate design choice to ensure that international NHS recruits could switch from other routes (Student, Graduate) without facing a cost penalty. The UK visa fee calculator at the top of this hub models the Health and Care Worker fees alongside the standard Skilled Worker schedule for direct comparison.

The Certificate of Sponsorship fee, paid by the sponsor (an NHS trust, GP practice, or licensed care provider in transitional cases), is £239 per assignment and is not charged to the applicant. The Immigration Skills Charge that applies to standard Skilled Worker sponsors is fully exempt for Health and Care Worker sponsorships under Schedule 9 of the Immigration Skills Charge Regulations 2017, regardless of the sponsor's size. This exemption alone saves a five-year sponsorship £5,000 (for a medium-large sponsor) compared with a standard Skilled Worker sponsorship, and substantially improves NHS recruitment economics.

IHS exemption for clinical NHS staff (Section 38A statutory instrument)

The Immigration Health Surcharge exemption for NHS clinical roles on the Health and Care Worker visa is set under the Immigration (Health Charge) (Amendment) Order 2020. The exemption applies to applicants who hold a Certificate of Sponsorship from an NHS body or an organisation providing services to the NHS, and whose role is in one of the listed clinical Standard Occupational Classification codes (doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, paramedics, and certain technical staff). The exemption is full, meaning £0 IHS is charged for the entire grant period, regardless of length, for both the main applicant and their dependants.

The exemption is automatic when the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned by a qualifying employer and does not require a separate exemption application. The Home Office cross-checks the sponsor's status against the licensed-sponsor register and the listed SOC codes at the point of application processing. If the role does not qualify for the exemption (for example, where the sponsor is a private care provider on the transitional care worker scheme rather than an NHS body) the full IHS is charged at the standard rate of £1,035 per year for adults and £776 per year for under-18 dependants.

A second tier of refund applies for some overseas-recruited NHS staff who paid the IHS before the exemption was extended in October 2020. The Home Office processed approximately 40,000 retrospective refunds in late 2020 and early 2021, and the refund window for that cohort is now closed.

What the April 2025 care worker closure means

From 9 April 2025 the Health and Care Worker visa was closed to new overseas care worker recruitment under SOC codes 6135 (Care escorts) and 6136 (Senior care workers). The closure applies to new Certificate of Sponsorship assignments to applicants applying from outside the UK. Three categories are explicitly carved out and remain open:

Clinical NHS roles (doctors, nurses, allied health professionals) continue to use the Health and Care Worker route on the same fee schedule and IHS exemption
Care workers already in the UK on a Health and Care Worker visa on 9 April 2025 can extend in-country with their current sponsor and may switch sponsors within the care sector under transitional rules
Senior care worker roles meeting the higher general Skilled Worker salary threshold of £38,700 may apply through the standard Skilled Worker route, paying the higher Skilled Worker fees and full IHS

The closure was announced in the November 2024 Statement of Changes and was framed as a response to extensive sponsorship compliance failures in the social care sector identified in Home Office audits during 2023 and 2024. Over 450 care sector sponsor licences were revoked between 2022 and 2024, leaving an estimated 39,000 care workers with cancelled sponsorships and 60 days to find new sponsors or leave the UK.

Transitional rules for current Care Worker visa holders

Holders of a Health and Care Worker visa granted before 9 April 2025 retain their leave on the original conditions. The transitional rules allow:

In-country extension with the current sponsor on the original fee schedule (£304 up to 3 years, £590 longer)
Switching sponsor within the same care worker SOC code without a fresh outside-UK application, provided the new sponsor holds a licence and the salary meets the original £23,200 threshold (not the new general £38,700 threshold)
Bringing dependants where the original visa permitted them - new dependant applications by care worker holders covered by the March 2024 restriction remain prohibited
Settlement after 5 years of continuous lawful residence on the route, subject to the standard settlement requirements

Care workers whose sponsor licence is revoked have 60 days to find an alternative sponsor or to switch route (to Skilled Worker proper, where the salary threshold can be met, or to a non-work route). The 60-day window runs from the date the Home Office notifies the worker, not the date of revocation.

Worked example: NHS nurse on a 5-year grant

The following worked example uses an NHS-employed nurse applying from outside the UK on a 5-year Health and Care Worker grant. The nurse is sponsored by an NHS trust on SOC code 2231 (Nurses), qualifying for the full IHS exemption. The nurse's partner and one child aged 8 are included on the application as dependants.

Main applicant Home Office fee (outside UK, more than 3 years): £590
Partner Home Office fee: £590
Child Home Office fee: £590
Main applicant IHS (5 years adult, clinical NHS): £0 (exempt)
Partner IHS (5 years adult, dependant of exempt main applicant): £0 (exempt)
Child IHS (5 years under-18, dependant of exempt main applicant): £0 (exempt)
Biometric enrolment (3 x £19.20): £57.60

Total upfront cost: £1,827.60. The same family applying as a standard Skilled Worker (not Health and Care Worker) would face the £1,420 Skilled Worker fee per person and the full IHS bill of (£1,035 x 5 x 2) + (£776 x 5) = £14,230. The total under the standard route would be £4,260 + £14,230 + £57.60 = £18,547.60. The Health and Care Worker route saves approximately £16,720 across the five-year grant for an NHS nurse family of three, almost all of which is the IHS exemption.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the Health and Care Worker visa fee lower than the standard Skilled Worker fee?

The Home Office sets the Health and Care Worker visa fee at a discount to the standard Skilled Worker fee because the route was designed in November 2020 to support NHS recruitment in response to staffing shortages during the pandemic. The discount has been retained in successive fee schedules. The discount applies even to Health and Care Worker applicants who do not qualify for the IHS exemption (such as private-sector care workers on the transitional scheme), meaning the route remains lower-cost than standard Skilled Worker even where the IHS is paid in full.

Who is exempt from the IHS on the Health and Care Worker route?

The IHS exemption applies to applicants sponsored by an NHS body or an organisation providing services to the NHS, working in listed clinical Standard Occupational Classification codes (doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, paramedics, certain technical staff) and their dependants on the same application. Care workers in private-sector roles, even where on the same Health and Care Worker visa, are not exempt from the IHS and pay the full £1,035 per year for adults and £776 per year for under-18 dependants.

Can existing overseas care workers still extend after April 2025?

Yes. Care workers already in the UK on a Health and Care Worker visa on 9 April 2025 retain transitional rights to extend their leave in-country with the same sponsor and to switch sponsors within the care sector under specified conditions. The original salary threshold of £23,200 continues to apply to extensions, not the new £38,700 general Skilled Worker threshold. The transitional rules are time-limited and the Home Office has indicated that all care worker leave will eventually transition to either Skilled Worker proper or to non-work routes.

Can a care worker switch to a Skilled Worker visa to keep working?

Yes, where the role meets the standard Skilled Worker eligibility criteria including the general salary threshold of £38,700 and a qualifying Standard Occupational Classification code. Care manager and senior nurse roles may qualify. The switch is treated as a fresh application at the standard Skilled Worker in-country fee of £827 for up to 3 years, plus full IHS for the new leave period. The existing Health and Care Worker IHS exemption does not carry across to the standard Skilled Worker route.

Are dependants still allowed on the Health and Care Worker route?

Dependants are still allowed for clinical NHS staff on the Health and Care Worker route. Care workers entering on SOC codes 6135 and 6136 have not been able to bring partner or child dependants since 11 March 2024, although existing care worker holders who already have dependants in the UK retain those dependants' leave under their original conditions. Settlement applications are unaffected by the dependant restriction and continue to allow family members to settle alongside the main applicant after 5 years of continuous lawful residence.

Sources

Disclaimer: The figures and guidance on this page are informational. Kael Tripton Ltd is not authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner, or the Financial Conduct Authority and does not provide immigration advice. For application-specific advice consult a regulated immigration adviser. Verify current fees and rules on gov.uk before applying.