Skilled Worker Visa for Nurses: UK Guide

The Health and Care Worker Route

Nurses come to the UK through the Health and Care Worker visa, a variant of the Skilled Worker visa with specific benefits:

• Reduced application fees: £324 per person for permission of up to 3 years, or £628 for more than 3 years. The fee is the same whether you apply from inside or outside the UK.
• Exemption from the Immigration Health Surcharge.
• Lower salary threshold.

NHS Trusts, private hospitals, and care providers with a sponsor licence can sponsor overseas nurses.

NMC Registration

Registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is mandatory before you can practise as a nurse in the UK. The process involves:

1. Eligibility check: Confirm your nursing qualification is recognised by the NMC. See our guide on recognition of foreign qualifications.
2. English language: Pass an approved English language test (IELTS Academic or OET) with the required scores.
3. Computer-based test (CBT): A multiple-choice exam covering nursing knowledge. It can be taken at Pearson VUE test centres worldwide.
4. OSCE: A practical assessment taken in the UK that tests clinical skills, communication, and professional values. It is taken at an NMC test centre.
5. Registration: After passing both tests, apply for NMC registration and receive your PIN.

The entire process can take 3 to 6 months from start to registration. Many NHS employers support nurses through the process, including paying for OSCE preparation and providing supervised practice.

English Language Requirement for Nurses

You must prove your English to two different bodies. The Nursing and Midwifery Council sets a requirement for registration. The Home Office sets one for the visa: for applications made on or after 8 January 2026 that is CEFR level B2 (upper intermediate) for a new Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker application, with B1 still accepted when you extend an existing permission on the same route. The Nursing and Midwifery Council scores below sit above B2, so meeting them normally covers the visa standard as well.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council accepts only two tests: IELTS Academic, and the Occupational English Test, which is built around healthcare situations. You can read more in our guide to English language tests for UK visas.

• IELTS Academic: 7 in listening, 7 in reading, 7 in speaking, and 6.5 in writing.
• Occupational English Test: grade B (350 or above) in listening, reading, and speaking, and grade C+ (300 or above) in writing.

These scores are the NMC requirement and the visa requirement combined into one step. Check the current NMC scores on the NMC website before you book a test, because the requirements can change.

OSCE and CBT in Detail

NMC registration uses a two-part test of competence. You take the computer-based test (CBT) first, then the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE).

The CBT is a multiple-choice exam. It checks your nursing knowledge and your clinical decision-making. You take it at a Pearson VUE test centre, and these centres exist in many countries, so you can usually sit the CBT before you travel to the UK. Check the current CBT fee with the Nursing and Midwifery Council before you book.

The OSCE is a practical exam. You move through a series of stations that copy real clinical situations. The OSCE tests your clinical skills, your communication, your record-keeping, and your professional values. You take the OSCE at one of three approved centres in the UK — the University of Northampton, Ulster University, and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust — so most nurses sit it after arrival. The Nursing and Midwifery Council publishes the fee as £794, with a reduced resit fee of £397 where you resit 7 or fewer stations. You can take the OSCE a maximum of three times as part of one application, waiting at least 10 days between sittings.

Many NHS employers support you through both tests. This support can include study time, OSCE preparation courses, supervised practice, and paying the OSCE fees. You should ask each employer what support they offer before you accept a job.

Costs and the Healthcare Surcharge Exemption

The Health and Care Worker visa is cheaper than the standard Skilled Worker visa in two ways.

• Reduced application fee: £324 per person for permission of up to 3 years, or £628 for more than 3 years, the same inside or outside the UK. The standard Skilled Worker fee is £819 or £1,618 from outside the UK, and £943 or £1,865 from inside it.
• Healthcare surcharge exemption: You do not pay the Immigration Health Surcharge . On other routes it is £1,035 a year for each person, so a 5-year visa costs £5,175 per person. Over a family, the exemption is worth several times that.

The exemption applies to you and to your dependants on the same route. You do not have to claim it, because the visa system applies it automatically. You will also need £1,270 in your bank account to show you can support yourself, unless your sponsor certifies your maintenance. For the current figures, check the Health and Care Worker visa pages on GOV.UK.

Salary and Career Progression

NHS nurses are paid on the Agenda for Change pay scale. For immigration purposes the rules do not use a single going rate for nursing codes. They take the figure from the published table of national pay scales, which varies by band and by UK nation. The table below is the version published on 22 July 2025.

• Band 5 (newly qualified nurses): England £29,970, Scotland £31,892, Wales £30,420, Northern Ireland £28,407.
• Band 6 (specialist and senior staff nurses): England £37,338, Scotland £39,912, Wales £37,898, Northern Ireland £35,392.
• Band 7 (ward managers and advanced practitioners): England £46,148, Scotland £48,788, Wales £46,840, Northern Ireland £43,742.
• Band 8a: England £53,755, Scotland £60,126, Wales £54,550, Northern Ireland £50,952. The table runs up to band 9.

These are the minimum figures the immigration rules use, not what every job pays. They are based on a 37.5-hour week (37 in Scotland) and are pro-rated for other working patterns. Bands 1 and 2 are not eligible for the route, and bands 3 and 4 are open only to someone who already held Skilled Worker permission before 22 July 2025 and has kept it since. High-cost-area supplements and unsocial hours payments sit on top. The salary calculation for visa purposes uses your guaranteed basic pay, so unsocial hours payments do not count towards it.

Midwives and Other Nursing Roles

This route is not only for general nurses. Midwives and specialist nursing roles follow a similar path. You still register with the NMC, you still meet the English requirement, and you still use the Health and Care Worker visa.

• Midwives (SOC 2231, midwifery nurses): Midwives register with the NMC in the same way as nurses. The test of competence is tailored to midwifery practice.
• Specialist nurses: Roles such as mental health nurses, learning disability nurses, and children's nurses use the same visa route and NMC registration.

Other registered healthcare professionals, such as doctors, use closely related routes. See our guide for skilled worker doctors for that pathway.

Ethical Recruitment

The UK follows the Code of Practice for International Recruitment of health and social care personnel. This means:

• Employers must not charge nurses for their recruitment.
• Active recruitment should not target countries on the WHO health workforce safeguard list without government-to-government agreements.
• Nurses should receive support with integration, accommodation, and professional development.

Path to Settlement

The published qualifying period for settlement (indefinite leave to remain) on the Health and Care Worker route is 5 years, after which many nurses go on to British citizenship. A move to a 10-year qualifying period has been proposed but is not law.

During the 5-year qualifying period, keep tracking your absences and the other settlement requirements. The English level for settlement is B1 now and rises to B2 for applications made on or after 26 March 2027.

Dependants

As a registered nurse you can bring your dependants (a partner, and children under 18 at the date of their first application). They can generally work without restriction in the UK. This does not apply across the whole health and care sector: someone sponsored as a care worker or senior care worker cannot bring a partner or children, and neither can anyone sponsored through the Temporary Shortage List.

Next Steps

Start the NMC registration process as early as possible. Book your CBT and prepare for the OSCE. Identify NHS employers with sponsor licences who are actively recruiting overseas nurses.

Related guides:

• Skilled Worker Visa Guide
• Professional Registration in the UK
• Recognition of Foreign Qualifications
• English Language Tests for UK Visas
• Skilled Worker Visa for Doctors
• Settlement for Health and Care Workers

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