Regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority · Ref No. F201700062
Sponsoring Workers
Health and care employers sponsor in a sector where the Home Office pays particularly close attention to whether roles are genuine and workers are properly employed.
Sponsorship in this sector needs careful attention to the role, the evidence behind it and the organisation's compliance position.
The Health and Care Worker route is a part of the Skilled Worker route for qualified professionals in eligible health and social care occupations, sponsored by an employer with the appropriate licence.
Eligibility depends on the occupation code and, for many roles, on the employer being an NHS body, an organisation providing services to the NHS, or a registered provider of care. Care sector sponsorship carries additional requirements and additional scrutiny.
Where the role requires registration with a professional body, the application needs that registration or clear evidence of the position on registration. Overseas qualifications may need recognition, and timing between registration and the start date needs planning.
For clinical roles, the interaction between registration, English language requirements set by the regulator, and the immigration English requirement is a frequent source of delay.
Care providers have been the focus of sustained Home Office enforcement. Common findings include sponsored workers with insufficient hours, roles that do not match the certificate, and inadequate records of the recruitment need.
Where a provider's registration status, service volume or staffing model changes, the sponsorship position should be reviewed at the same time.
What is actually needed depends on your circumstances. We confirm the list with you before anything is prepared.
We look at the organisation, the roles involved and what has already been done, so advice is based on the actual position rather than assumptions.
We set out what the Home Office will expect to see and where the evidence or the internal position needs work.
We help prepare the application, supporting documents and the internal record keeping that sits behind it.
We advise on requests for further information, compliance activity and any conditions attached to the outcome.
This page is general information about UK immigration and is not advice on your individual circumstances. Requirements, guidance and procedures change. Please obtain advice before relying on anything published here.
We will tell you how UKU can assist, and what the realistic options are.
