Health and Care Worker Visa: A Guide for Zimbabwean Nurses, Doctors and Healthcare Professionals

Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans have used the Health and Care Worker visa to build careers in the UK's NHS and social care sector. Between 2021 and 2024, nearly 20,000 Zimbabweans were granted this visa, making Zimbabwe one of the top source countries alongside India and Nigeria. Understanding how the route works — and how it has changed — is essential before committing time and money to an application. ## What the Visa Offers The Health and Care Worker visa is a sub-category of the Skilled Worker route, originally launched in August 2020 and expanded in February 2022. It carries three significant advantages over a standard Skilled Worker visa. First, the application fee is £284 for visas up to three years — considerably less than the £719 standard fee. Second, applicants are exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge, which saves approximately £1,035 per year. Third, applications are processed on a priority basis, typically within three weeks. Visas can be granted for up to five years. After five years of continuous qualifying residence, holders may be eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain. ## Who Qualifies Eligible roles include registered nurses, doctors, midwives, paramedics, radiographers, occupational therapists, pharmacists, and social workers in healthcare settings. Employers must be NHS trusts, NHS-contracted organisations, or providers registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The minimum salary requirement is £29,000, or the going rate for the specific occupation code — whichever is higher. Some applicants qualify for a reduced threshold of £30,960 under the standard Skilled Worker route if they are new entrants (under 26, recent graduates, or in professional training), hold a PhD relevant to the role, or work in a shortage occupation. The job must be at least RQF Level 3 (broadly equivalent to A-level standard), the vacancy must be genuine, and the employer must hold a valid sponsor licence issued by the Home Office. ## The Care Worker Restriction — What Changed In 2022, the government added social care worker roles to the Shortage Occupation List to address post-Brexit and post-pandemic staffing gaps. This opened the door to a large wave of overseas care workers. In 2023 alone, 146,000 people arrived on Health and Care Worker visas nationally. However, the rapid expansion created serious problems. Many care workers were charged illegal recruitment fees by sponsors, some arrived to find no work available, and hundreds of rogue companies had their sponsor licences revoked. Scams proliferated in Zimbabwe, with fraudsters selling bogus qualifications and fake sponsorship promises. As of July 2026, new care worker sponsorships are restricted. Existing sponsored care workers may extend their visas until July 2028, but new applications for care worker roles are no longer straightforward. Registered nurses, doctors, and allied health professionals on clinical pathways are not affected by this restriction and may continue to apply as before. ## The Real Costs of Applying from Zimbabwe Before submitting a visa application, Zimbabwean applicants must demonstrate £1,270 held in a bank account for at least 28 consecutive days within the 30 days prior to applying. If an employer agrees to cover first-month costs, this can be noted on the Certificate of Sponsorship instead. Additional upfront costs commonly include a TB test, a police clearance certificate, and an English language test (IELTS for UKVI is the standard route). Some applicants in Zimbabwe have reported spending over $800 on these preparatory steps before even securing sponsorship. Recruitment agents have charged between $1,000 and $3,000 in fees — a practice that, while widespread, is legally questionable and carries no guarantee of success. For those bringing family, additional funds are required: £285 for a partner, £315 for the first child, and £200 for each additional child. ## The Application Process Step by Step The process begins with securing a job offer from a licensed UK sponsor. The employer then issues an electronic Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), which contains the job details, occupation code, and salary. Once issued, applicants have three months to submit their visa application. The application is made online at gov.uk. Documents required typically include the CoS reference number, proof of English proficiency, a valid passport, bank statements, a TB test certificate, and a criminal record certificate from any country lived in. Biometrics are submitted at the VFS Global centre in Harare. Standard processing takes three to eight weeks; priority processing reduces this to approximately five working days for an additional fee. ## NMC Registration for Nurses For registered nurses, securing a visa is only part of the journey. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) requires overseas-trained nurses to pass the Computer-Based Test (CBT) and the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) before practising in the UK. Many Zimbabwean nurses work as healthcare assistants while completing NMC registration. The NMC process can take many months and carries its own fees and preparation requirements. ## Protecting Yourself From Scams The genuine Certificate of Sponsorship is issued electronically by a licensed UK employer — it cannot be purchased from a third party. Any agent or individual offering to sell a CoS, guarantee UK healthcare qualifications remotely, or secure a visa in exchange for large upfront payments should be treated as fraudulent. Verify that any prospective employer holds a current sponsor licence by checking the Home Office's published register of licensed sponsors at gov.uk. Legitimate UK employers are prohibited by law from charging workers recruitment fees.