Other visa holders who need sponsorship

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Health and Care Worker visas

Healthcare professionals can apply for a Health and Care Worker visa to work in Scotland.

About the application

Health and Care Workers can apply online from outside the UK (gov.uk)

In some cases, workers can apply to switch to a Health and Care Worker visa from inside the UK (gov.uk)

Workers can apply to extend a Health and Care Worker visa from inside the UK (gov.uk)

To apply for a Health and Care Worker visa, workers need to:

• Have an eligible job offer
• Have a certificate of sponsorship from a sponsor
• Fill in an online form
• Pay a fee
• Prove their identity
• Send their supporting evidence to the Home Office

To prove their identity, workers can either:

• Use the UK: Immigration ID Check smartphone application
• Have their fingerprints and photograph taken at a visa application centre

A certificate of sponsorship automatically expires after three months. This means a worker must apply for a visa within three months from the date on the certificate.

There’s a fee of £284 for visas up to three years. For visas over three years, there’s a fee of £551. There’s no Immigration Health Surcharge to use the NHS.

Who can apply

Doctors, nurses, other health professionals and adult social care professionals can apply.

Sponsors on this route include:

• National Health Service (NHS)
• Social care sector organisations
• Organisations providing services to the NHS

Sponsors must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) if sponsoring:

• Care workers
• Senior care workers
• Home carers

Workers must have a health or social care job offer from the list of eligible jobs (gov.uk)

Jobs are listed with a:

• Four-digit code
• Job title
• Minimum salary or ‘going rate’

Salary requirements vary depending on a worker's role.

Normally, you should offer a worker at least £23,200. If the ‘going rate’ for a job is higher than £23,200, you’ll need to pay the worker at least the going rate.

Each four-digit code has its own annual going rate, listed in Table 3 (gov.uk). The table lists going rates by area.

Healthcare workers may be able to work in another job for more than 20 hours a week.

Visas are usually for up to five years.

After five years, workers can either:

• Extend their visa, if they meet the requirements
• Apply for settlement in the UK, if they meet the requirements

Dependants

Care workers and Senior Care Workers can’t apply to bring their family members to the UK.

Read about Health and Care Worker visas (gov.uk)

Minister of Religion visa

The T2 Minister of Religion visa is for workers taking a leading role in a faith organisation or religious order in the UK.

About the application

Workers can apply online from outside the UK (gov.uk)

In some cases, workers can apply to switch to a T2 Minister of Religion visa from inside the UK (gov.uk)

Workers can apply to extend a T2 Minister of Religion visa from inside the UK (gov.uk)

Ministers of Religion must apply within three months of their employment start date.

Applicants need a certificate of sponsorship from a T2 Minister of Religion sponsor.

Who can apply

A Minister of Religion needs a job offer from a UK faith organisation or religious order.

You must offer them pay and conditions at least equal to those of workers in the same role that are settled in the UK. The pay and conditions must follow national minimum wage rates, unless they’re exempt.

A Minister of Religion must have £1270 savings for at least 28 days before the application. That is unless they’re exempt, or you agree to cover their expenses for the first month as their sponsor.

Ministers of Religion must show they’re proficient in English at level B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) (coe.int)

There’s a fee of £719 from outside the UK. There’s an Immigration Health Surcharge to use the NHS of £1035 per year of the visa.

Visas are usually granted for up to three years.

T2 Ministers of Religion can apply to extend their visas for up to six years. After living in the UK for five years, they can apply for settlement if they meet the requirements (gov.uk)

Dependents

Partners and children can apply to join a Minister of Religion in the UK.

They’ll need additional savings of:

• £285 for partners
• £315 for their first dependent child
• £200 for each additional child

That is unless they’re exempt, or you agree to cover their expenses as their sponsor.

International Sportsperson visa

This visa is for a sportsperson or sports coach to work in Scotland.

They must have an "endorsement" from a body listed in Appendix Sports Governing Bodies (gov.uk)

They must also have a certificate of sponsorship from an International Sportsperson sponsor.

About the application

Applications can be made online from outside the UK (gov.uk)

In some cases, sportspeople can apply to switch to an International Sportsperson visa from inside the UK (gov.uk)

International sportspeople can apply to extend an International Sportsperson visa from inside the UK (gov.uk)

Who can apply

To apply, they need to be:

• 16 or over
• An elite sportsperson or a qualified coach
• Established internationally
• Want to come to the UK to develop their sport at the highest level

Applicants under 18 will need parental consent.

A visa can either last for 12 months or less, or between 12 months and three years.

If someone is applying to stay for longer than 12 months, they need to show they’re proficient in English at level A1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) (coe.int)

They need to have £1270 in savings for 28 days before applying. That is unless they’re exempt, or you agree to cover their expenses as their sponsor.

There’s a fee of £298 for a visa for up to 12 months. For longer than 12 months, there’s a fee of:

• £719 for applications made outside the UK
• £827 for applications made inside the UK
• £1035 per year of a visa for an Immigration Health Surcharge to use the NHS. This applies for visas over six months

Workers can apply to extend their visas if they meet the requirements.

After living in the UK for five years, they can apply for settlement if they meet the requirements (gov.uk)

Dependents

Partners and children can apply to join an international sportsperson in the UK.

They’ll need additional savings of:

• £285 for partners
• £315 for their first dependent child
• £200 for each additional child

That is unless they’re exempt, or you agree to cover their expenses as their sponsor.

Switching visas

If you need advice on whether your worker can switch to one of the above visas from another visa, we recommend booking a free one-to-one appointment with us.

Photo credit: Visit Scotland / Visit Falkirk