UK Health and Care Worker Visa from Nepal: Guide for Nurses, Doctors and Carers

The Health and Care Worker visa is a special branch of the UK's main work visa, the Skilled Worker visa. It lets qualified medical and care professionals come to (or stay in) the UK to do an eligible job with the NHS, an organisation that supplies the NHS, or in adult social care. It is not a separate 'points' system — it uses the same Skilled Worker framework, but with cheaper fees and important healthcare-cost savings designed to make it easier for the UK to recruit health staff.

The two headline benefits are financial. First, the visa application fee is charged at a reduced rate, well below the standard Skilled Worker fee. Second — and this is the big one — holders and their family members are completely exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), the annual charge (normally around GBP 1,035 per person per year, as of 2026) that most migrants must pay to use the NHS. Over a five-year visa for a worker plus a partner and two children, that exemption alone can save many thousands of pounds.

The visa is normally granted for up to five years at a time and can be renewed. After five years of continuous qualifying residence you can usually apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (settlement), and later British citizenship, subject to the rules in force at that time. Because it is a Skilled Worker sub-route, your right to stay is tied to your sponsoring employer and your specific job.

You cannot apply speculatively — you must already have a confirmed job offer from an approved UK employer before you apply. That employer must hold a valid sponsor licence from the Home Office and must assign you a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), an electronic record (not a paper document) with a reference number that confirms the job details. You use that CoS reference number to make your visa application. No CoS, no visa.

The job must sit in an eligible occupation code on the Home Office's list for the Health and Care route (for example medical practitioners, nurses, midwives, allied health professionals such as physiotherapists and radiographers, and certain care roles). You must also be paid at least the minimum salary for the route. As of 2026 the general floor for the Health and Care Worker visa is around GBP 25,000 a year (or the 'going rate' published for your specific occupation code, whichever is higher); many NHS roles are paid against the national Agenda for Change pay scales. Salary thresholds are reviewed regularly, so verify the current figure for your occupation on gov.uk.

You must also prove your knowledge of English to at least level B1 (speaking, listening, reading and writing), usually by passing an approved Secure English Language Test or holding an eligible degree taught in English. Nurses and doctors typically meet this through the higher-level English test their professional regulator requires anyway (see below). Finally, you generally need to show you can support yourself on arrival (a maintenance funds requirement) unless your sponsor certifies your maintenance.

A nurse trained in Nepal cannot practise in the UK on qualifications alone — you must first register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the UK regulator. The NMC assesses overseas-trained applicants through its Test of Competence, which has two parts: a computer-based test (CBT) and a practical Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). You must pass both within two years of each other, and you can take them in either order.

The CBT is a knowledge test (numeracy plus clinical questions) that you can sit at a Pearson VUE test centre, including in Nepal, before you travel. The OSCE is a practical exam with ten 'stations' assessing clinical skills, values and evidence-based practice; it is held only at NMC-approved centres in the UK, so it is normally taken after you arrive to start work. Many UK employers offer OSCE preparation and cover or reimburse the exam cost as part of ethical recruitment packages.

For English, the NMC requires a higher standard than the visa's basic B1: typically IELTS Academic 7.0 overall (with at least 6.5 in writing) or OET at Grade B, as of 2026 (the NMC also accepts some other evidence routes). Once you pass the Test of Competence, meet the English requirement and complete the NMC's checks, you are granted a PIN — your legal authorisation to practise as a registered nurse. Doctors follow a parallel path with the General Medical Council (GMC), usually via the PLAB exams or an accepted postgraduate qualification, plus English.

Nepal is listed on the World Health Organization (WHO) Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List — the so-called 'red list' of countries that themselves face health-worker shortages. Under the UK's Code of Practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel, NHS and public-sector employers must not actively recruit from red-list countries unless there is a specific government-to-government agreement in place.

That exception exists for Nepal. On 22 August 2022 the governments of Nepal and the United Kingdom signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the managed, ethical recruitment of Nepali healthcare workers, beginning as a trial. This is why Nepali nurses can be recruited into the NHS through approved channels even though Nepal is on the red list — but it means recruitment is supposed to be tightly managed and ethical, not a free-for-all.

Ethical recruitment has a practical consequence for you as a candidate: under the Code of Practice, the worker should not be charged recruitment fees for an NHS job, and legitimate NHS employers do not sell Certificates of Sponsorship. The agreement remains debated in Nepal on the grounds that it may worsen Nepal's own nursing shortage, so the terms and scale of recruitment can change — check current guidance rather than relying on an agent's promises.

The rules on bringing family (dependants) now depend heavily on which job you are doing, and they have tightened significantly. For most Health and Care Worker visa holders in professional graduate-level roles — for example nurses, midwives and doctors — you can usually still bring your partner and children under 18 as dependants, provided you meet the requirements.

Care workers and senior care workers are treated differently. Since 11 March 2024, people applying in the care worker and senior care worker occupations have not been able to bring dependants to the UK (limited exceptions apply, for example a child born in the UK or where a dependant was already in the UK on this route). This restriction was one of a series of measures aimed at reducing net migration and abuse in the care sector.

A bigger change followed on 22 July 2025: the UK effectively closed the care worker and senior care worker occupations to new recruitment from overseas. In practice this means that, as of 2026, a care worker applying from Nepal generally cannot get a new Health and Care Worker visa from outside the UK at all, although people already in the UK in these roles may be able to extend or switch under transitional arrangements. Because these rules are changing quickly, confirm the current position for your specific role on gov.uk before making any plans.

The Health and Care Worker visa is deliberately one of the cheapest UK work routes. As of 2026 the application fee is roughly GBP 324 for a visa of up to three years and about GBP 628 for a longer visa (fees are usually reviewed each April, so treat these as indicative and verify on gov.uk). That is far below the standard Skilled Worker fee, and — crucially — you and your dependants pay no Immigration Health Surcharge, unlike almost every other migrant.

On top of the visa fee, remember the separate professional and exam costs, which the visa fee does not cover. For nurses, the NMC route (English test, CBT, OSCE and registration) costs on the order of GBP 1,000 or more in total (the NMC quotes a headline figure of about GBP 1,040 for its test and registration fees, as of 2026, excluding resits and the English test itself). You will also pay for your passport, biometrics, and travel.

The single most important cost rule to remember: for a genuine, ethically recruited NHS job you should not be paying anyone a fee to get the job or the Certificate of Sponsorship. Sponsors are legally barred from passing certain sponsorship costs on to workers, and reputable employers often reimburse relocation and exam costs. If someone is asking you for a large 'placement' or 'CoS' payment, treat it as a warning sign.

The process runs mostly online. First, secure a genuine job offer from a licensed UK sponsor and check the employer's name on the Home Office 'Register of licensed sponsors: workers' on gov.uk. Once hired, the employer assigns you a Certificate of Sponsorship and gives you the CoS reference number and the salary and job details you will need.

Next, apply online on gov.uk for the Health and Care Worker visa. You can apply up to three months before your job start date. You will enter your CoS reference number, prove your identity and English, upload documents (passport, proof of savings if required, and — for nurses and doctors — evidence of professional registration or eligibility), and pay the reduced fee. Because the route is IHS-exempt, you should not be charged the health surcharge; if the online system tries to charge it, check that your CoS is correctly flagged as a Health and Care role.

You then verify your identity, either using the 'UK Immigration: ID Check' smartphone app or by attending a visa application centre in Nepal to give biometrics (fingerprints and photo). Standard processing is usually around three weeks for applications made from outside the UK, though this varies. Keep copies of everything, including your CoS reference and job contract.

The demand for UK health and care jobs has created a large scam industry targeting Nepalis. The most common frauds involve fake or invalid Certificates of Sponsorship, 'jobs' that do not actually exist, and unlicensed agents who charge huge sums for a placement and then disappear or deliver a worthless offer. A CoS is only valid if it comes from an employer that genuinely holds a current sponsor licence for the right route.

There is also a real risk even with visas that are technically genuine: the UK has revoked hundreds of care-sector sponsor licences in recent years, leaving thousands of workers stranded when their employer lost the right to sponsor. Some arrived to find the promised hours or job did not exist. Because your visa is tied to your sponsor, a revoked licence can put your status at immediate risk.

Protect yourself: check the employer on the official gov.uk register of licensed sponsors before you pay anything or sign; never pay for a Certificate of Sponsorship or a guaranteed job, and be very wary of anyone demanding large up-front fees; insist on a written contract with real hours and pay; and confirm every figure and rule directly on gov.uk and the NMC or GMC websites rather than through an agent. If an offer sounds too good or too urgent, slow down and verify.