UK Health and Care Worker Visa: Official Eligibility and Safety Guide

This is an official-source route guide for Nigerians and other applicants checking UK health and care opportunities. It does not offer vacancies, guarantee sponsorship, a visa decision, entry to the UK, or settlement, and it does not replace the current GOV.UK instructions for your role and circumstances.

Core eligibility: check every part, not just a job title

Important care-worker and senior-care-worker warning

GOV.UK’s current occupation guidance distinguishes new applicants from people extending, updating, or switching. The codes for care workers and home carers (6135) and senior care workers (6136) are shown under the extension, update, or switch conditions rather than the new Health and Care Worker visa occupation list. Do not accept a claim that an overseas “care worker visa” is automatically open to every new applicant. Check the current GOV.UK page for your exact occupation code and route before applying. If the role is in England and is a care-worker or senior-care-worker role, GOV.UK says the employer must be registered with the Care Quality Commission.

Salary: use the live role-specific figure

The salary requirement is not one universal figure. GOV.UK says most standard Health and Care Worker roles must meet at least £25,000 or the relevant going rate, whichever is higher. Some listed codes are subject to different rules, where GOV.UK states a usual threshold of at least £31,300 or the occupation’s lower going rate, whichever is higher; limited exceptions are conditional. Read the live table for your occupation code and offer. Never alter a contract, payslip, qualification, or job description to appear eligible.

Safe official application sequence

1. Find or receive a genuine offer for an eligible UK health or adult social-care role.
2. Ask the employer for the exact four-digit occupation code, job description, pay, hours, location, sponsor details, and route they are using.
3. Check the code, salary rule, and employer conditions against the live GOV.UK job guidance.
4. Only after the approved employer issues a valid CoS reference should you complete the official online visa application. Apply within the timing set by GOV.UK and the CoS.
5. Provide genuine identity, qualification, English, financial, and role evidence only through the official application process. Follow the instructions shown for your own application.

What this visa can and cannot do

GOV.UK says this visa can last for up to five years before an extension is needed, and it may offer a route to settlement after five years if all relevant requirements are met. Those are not guarantees. You must update the visa if you change job or employer, and a successful applicant still has route conditions. Check the current GOV.UK rules for dependants, additional work, switching, extension, public funds, and settlement before making decisions.

Visa and recruitment-scam safeguards

• Do not pay a person for a job, sponsorship, CoS, shortlist, interview, test, immigration “slot,” or guaranteed visa. Verify every offer independently.
• Do not send your passport, banking login, OTP, card number, CV, certificates, or identity files to an unverified recruiter or personal email address.
• Do not apply with false bank records, English tests, degrees, licensing documents, work history, salary terms, or CoS information. You are responsible for your application.
• Do not treat a visitor visa as work permission or travel before your own visa status and conditions allow it.
• Use only live GOV.UK information for fee, document, identity-check, biometric, and processing instructions; these details can change.

Official sources

• GOV.UK: Health and Care Worker visa — overview, confirmed-offer, sponsor, CoS, application, and route information.
• GOV.UK: Your job — eligible roles, approved employer, occupation-code, care-worker, and salary information.
• GOV.UK: Different salary requirements — code-specific salary rules and conditional exceptions.
• GOV.UK: Knowledge of English — current English-evidence options and B2/new-application context.

Last checked: August 14, 2026. Before applying, paying, travelling, or sharing documents, confirm your exact role, occupation code, sponsor, CoS, salary, English-evidence route, and official application instructions on GOV.UK.