Successful Sponsor Licence Application
Efficient and helpful. Amer and his Team are quick to respond to queries, even over the weekends and at night. Sponsor Licence granted after only 4 weeks. Thanks.
Daniel Johnson
Tier 2 Health & Care Visa
If you are interested in applying for the Health and Care Worker visa that would enable you to work in the UK as a medical professional, our immigration solicitors at Cranbrook Legal can project manage your case to a successful outcome.
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Cranbrook Legal is one of the UK’s most trusted legal firms in relation to the Health and Care Worker visa. When you require the services of the most capable, knowledgeable and experienced Tier 2 Health and Care visa UK lawyers, you don’t need to look further than our professionals based in central London.
We can advise and guide you about Health and Care visaeligibility, as well as the application process itself. We will hold your hand from the start to finish, to help deliver the best possible outcome for you as a would-be health and care worker in the UK.
We are an award-winning UK immigration law firm, regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Whether you would like to apply for the Health and Care visa for the UK for the first time, or you are interested in extending your present visa or switching from a different type of UK visa, you can depend on us providing the complete service. For more information, please call 0208 215 0053.
Are you presently based outside the UK, and considering whether you could move to or stay here in a health and care role? If so, our specialists in immigration law can put you in touch with recruiters in the UK health and care industry, to help you find suitable opportunities.Â
We employ talented immigration solicitors with a dynamic and progressive mindset, who have a wealth of experience in UK immigration law and will treat your case with the utmost care, dignity and transparency.
We have a high success rate when it comes to helping migrants to secure the UK Health and Care visa; nonetheless, if you are not approved for this visa at your first attempt, we will advise you on your options, including how you can challenge the Home Office’s decision.
Another benefit of choosing our central London-based Tier 2 Health and Care visa UK solicitors is the fixed fee we will agree with you at the outset of your case. This will give you the financial certainty that you may need in order to feel confident in working with us, with no need to worry about any hidden charges or costs.
The introduction of the Tier 2 Healthcare visa for the UK was announced by the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care in July 2020; this visa route opened for applications the following month.
The visa is designed to enable health professionals from across the world to move to the UK more easilyin order to work in an eligible role for the NHS, an NHS supplier or in adult social care.
Holders of the UK Health and Care visa are entitled to stay in the UK for five years at a time before they will need to apply to extend it; as long as you continue to meet the eligibility requirements, you can apply to extend this visa as many times as you like. You will also be required to apply to extend or update your visa in the event that you change job or employer.
This visa may also provide a route to you settling permanently in the UK after five years – a status known as indefinite leave to remain, or ILR. If this is a long-term aspiration of yours, our Tier 2 Health and Care visa UK lawyers can assist you with your eventual application for ILR.
Being approved for the UK Health and Care visa would give you the right to do the following:
Those coming to the UK on this visa will not, however, be permitted to:
If you are successful in obtaining the Tier 2 Healthcare visa for the UK, you will be sent a full list of what you are and are not allowed to do as a holder of this visa. To find out more about how our solicitors can help with your application, please call 0208 215 0053.
In order to be eligible for the Health and Care Worker visa, you are required to:
You will not be permitted to apply for the Health and Care visa for the UK without having first been presented with a confirmed job offer.
Applicants for this visa are also required to be able to speak, read, write and understand English. You will normally be expected to prove your knowledge of English prior to lodging a visa application, unless you already did this in a previously successful application for a visa.
The essential UK Health and Care visa requirements for prospective applicants include all of the following:
As an applicant, you must also have a confirmed offer for a job that is eligible for the UK Health and Care visa. You can check the eligibility of the job for which you have an offer, by requesting the job’s four-digit occupation code from your employerand comparing it against the Home Office’s list.
At the time of typing, the below occupation codes are all eligible jobs for the Tier 2 Health and Care visa for the UK:
In addition to ensuring the job itself is eligible, you must make sure the confirmed job offer is coming from an employer that has been approved by the Home Office, before submitting your application for the Tier 2 Health and Care visa for the UK.
The job offer must have been presented to you by one of the following:
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) – which is part of the Home Office –makes available a complete list of currently eligible employers to view online.
If the employer giving you a confirmed job offer is not currently approved, it has the option of applying for a sponsor licence, subject to eligibility requirements.
If you are already in the UK on a different type of visa, you may have the option of applying to switch onto the Health and Care Worker visa.
You will not be permitted to apply to change to this visa if you are presently in the UK:
Our central London-based immigration solicitors will be able to advise you on your Health and Care visa UK eligibility; simply arrange your consultation with us now.
You must make your application to switch to the Tier 2 Health and Care visa for the UK online, before your present visa expires. You will also need to prove your identity to the Home Office as part of this process, in addition to providing the necessary documents.
Once all of the above has been done, you can usually expect to receive a decision on your application within about three weeks. If the application process will take longer than this –for example, because of a need to attend an interview or have supporting documents verified – the Home Office will contact you about this.
For more advice and guidance on meeting the requirements for a Health and Care visa in the UK as someone who currently holds a different type of visa, please contact our immigration specialists today.
If the Home Office refuses your application for a UK Health and Care visa, you have the option of applying for Administrative Review (AR) of this decision.
You have this right whether you are applying for this visa for the first time, applying to extend an existing Health and Care Worker visa, or applying to switch to this visa from another visa type. It is also an option for those who already hold a Health and Care Worker visa who are applying for ‘indefinite leave to remain’ status, also known as ILR.
As an applicant who has been refused for this visa, you will be required to file a request for an Administrative Review within 28 days after the receipt date of UKVI’s refusal notice. The Home Office will then have 28 calendar days within receipt of this request to consider and make a decision on the AR.
In order for your request to be successful, you will need to convince the entry clearance manager that the entry clearance officer who decided on your visa application made a case working error.
To discuss your options after receiving a Health and Care Worker visa application refusal, including if your request for Administrative Review does not reverse the Home Office’s decision, please feel free to contact our experienced immigration lawyers in central London today.
Why Choose Us For Your Tier 2 Health & Care Visa?
Yes, the requirements for the Health and Care visa for the UK do not include a need to pay the healthcare surcharge, which differs from the situation for other UK visa routes. Nor will your partner or children applying to join you in the UK on this visa be required to pay this charge.
However, in order to apply for this visa, you will still need to pay the standard application fee. This is £232 per person for those applying to be in the UK on an up-to-three-year visa, and £464 per person for applicants who plan to spend more than three years in the UK on this visa.
You will also need to have a minimum of £1,270 in your bank account, as evidence that you will be able to support yourself during your time in the UK. These funds will need to have been available in your bank account for at least 28 consecutive days, and the 28th of these days must be within 31 days of you submitting your application for the visa.
You will normally be expected to show proof of having this amount of money to support yourself when you apply, unless either of the following is the case:
Please note that your partner and children will also be required to prove they are able to support themselves during their time in the UK. You – or your partner or child – will need:
For more information about the fees you will be expected to pay as a prospective holder of the Tier 2 Health and Care visa, please don’t wait to contact us.
The standard application fee you will be required to pay as a candidate for the Health and Care Worker visa will depend on the period of time you intend to be in the UK on this visa:
The above fee will be the same regardless of whether you apply from inside or outside the UK.
However, you will receive an automatic £55 discount on your UK Health and Care visa application fee if you are from one of the following countries, many of which are EU member states:
Please note that this discount will only be applied to your own application for the Tier 2 Healthcare visa for the UK; your partner and children will still be required to pay the full application fee.
If you or your relatives are from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, and you and your family member began living in the UK by 31 December 2020, you may still have the option of applying to the UK government’s free EU Settlement Scheme.
Most people applying to the EU Settlement Scheme were required to do so by 30 June 2021. However, at the time of typing, it was still possible to apply to the scheme for those who:
EU citizens who, for any reason, are not able to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme will require a visa in order to work in the UK. However, if you are an Irish citizen, you can work in the UK without needing to apply for a visa or to the EU Settlement Scheme.
If you have any questions about your eligibility and suitability for this visa route and any other aspects of the application process as an EU citizen, please do not hesitate to contact our knowledgeable and experienced Tier 2 Health and Care visa UK lawyers.
Yes, subject to them satisfying the eligibility requirements, your partner and children can apply to join you in the UK. If they are successful in being approved, their visa will end on the same date as yours.
To qualify as one of your ‘dependants’ – and to therefore be eligible to apply for the Health and Care visa for the UK – your partner or child must be one of the below:
Further evidence of your relationship with the applicant must be provided with the application for the visa.
If you would like your partner to be approved for the Tier 2 Healthcare visa for the UK as one of your ‘dependants’, you will be required to prove that either of the following is the case:
For any child aged 16 years or over who is applying to join you in the UK on the Health and Care Worker visa, they are required to:
If your child of at least 16 years of age lives with you, evidence of their address will need to be provided as part of the application. Examples of acceptable evidence would include:
Another crucial thing to ensure if you would like your ‘dependants’ to join you in the UK on the Health and Care Worker visa, is that they have a sufficient amount of money available to support themselves during their stay in the country.
The requirements are:
Whether your ‘dependants’ are currently inside or outside the UK, their applications for this visa must be made online.
If an application is being made from outside the UK and the applicant has proved their identity and supplied the necessary documents, they can usually expect a decision within three weeks. The typical wait for those applying from inside the UK to extend their visa or to switch to this visa from another visa category is about eight weeks.Â
For more detailed advice and guidance in relation to securing this visa for your partner or children, and the relevant processes and fees involved, please arrange a consultation with our Tier 2 Health and Care visa UK solicitors.
The employer from which you have received a confirmed job offer – otherwise known as the ‘sponsor’, given that they will be sponsoring you to come to or stay in the UK – does not necessarily need to be the NHS when you apply for the Health and Care visa for the UK.
However, if the employer in question is not the NHS, the confirmed job offer must come from either an organisation that provides medical services to the NHS, or an organisation that provides adult social care.
A full list of employers eligible to act as sponsors for this visa can be found on the GOV.UK website.
All children in England, aged between 5 and 16 years, have the right to a free place at a state school. State schools – otherwise often referred to as ‘maintained schools’ –are non-fee-paying schools that are mostly organised by local authorities (LAs), and funded from taxes. If your child under 18 years old accompanies you on this visa as your ‘dependant’, they will be entitled to study at a state-funded school in the UK, and their education will be free.
If you are successful in obtaining the Health and Care Worker visa, your children will be able to apply to join you in the UK as your ‘dependants’, provided that they meet the eligibility requirements.
Such an application can be made for children aged under 18 – including any born in the UK during your stay in the country –as well as for any child aged over 18 who is presently in the UK as your dependant.
If your child is over 16 years old and they live with you, evidence of their addresswill need to be provided with the visa application. This may be in the form of a bank statement, credit card bills, driving licence, NHS registration letter, or an official letter from their university or college.
The UK Health and Care visa requirements include having a confirmed job offer from an employer approved by the Home Office; until you have such a job offer, you will not be permitted to apply for the visa itself. These approved employers are also known as ‘sponsors’, given that it is your employer who will be sponsoring you to come to the UK to work.
A full list of eligible employers in relation to the Tier 2 Health and Care visa for the UK is provided on the GOV.UK website.
A sponsor licence is usually needed by any UK employers wishing to employ someone to work for them from outside the UK. Employers that are not presently approved by the Home Office for this purpose, and who cannot therefore act as sponsors for Health and Care Worker visa applicants, may have the option of applying for a sponsor licence, provided that they meet the eligibility requirements.
Call 0208 215 0053 today to learn more about our wide-ranging services and expertise in relation to this visa.
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