Health and Care (Tier 2 Visa): A new UK Visa for healthcare workers

The Health and Care Tier 2 Visa is a new initiative by the U.K. government to support new overseas doctors .

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Who can apply for it?

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

What do you need to apply?

You need to be employed by a licensed sponsor to apply to live in the UK. This is your employing trust/ deanery. They will issue a CoS ( certificate of sponsorship) which will contain details about your employment.

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How long will it take?

It usually takes 3 weeks from the date you provide your biometric information to get your visa decision.

Cost

Visa for up to 3 years — £232.

Visa for more than 3 years — £464.

Cost is the same for your dependents as well.

P.S.- 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.

This is a huge reduction in fee where earlier it used to cost thousands of pounds to apply for a 3-year visa.

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Getting faster decisions

Extra £500 is charged for the priority service to get a decision within 5 working days.

Extra £800 is charged for the super priority service to get a decision by the end of the next working day.

Health Surcharge Fees

There is no health surcharge fees for this visa.

This is a new change from earlier where you had to pay hundreds of pounds of such a fee to access healthcare in the U.K. for yourself.

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Allowances on the visa

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

Restrictions on the visa

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