Caregiver roles in Wales are regulated under CIW, Care Inspectorate Wales, and international applicants generally need to secure a job with a CIW-regulated employer before applying for a Health and Care Worker visa — a sponsored route built specifically for the health and social care sector. Here’s how the process works from finding a role through to submitting your visa application.
Understand the Visa Route You’ll Need
If you’re a non-UK citizen, the Health and Care Worker visa is the relevant route for care roles in Wales. It’s a sub-category of the UK’s Skilled Worker visa, designed specifically to make recruiting international health and care professionals easier and cheaper than the standard Skilled Worker pathway. Compared to the general Skilled Worker visa, it comes with a lower application fee (£590 versus £1,519 for visas over three years) and exemption from the Immigration Health Surcharge, which otherwise runs around £1,035 per year of stay.
Secure a Job Offer With a Licensed Sponsor First
You can’t apply for this visa independently — you need a confirmed job offer from an employer holding a Home Office sponsor licence under the Health and Care Worker route. In Wales specifically, eligible employers include organisations regulated under the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016, alongside NHS bodies operating in Wales. Before sponsoring an overseas worker, UK employers are also required to have first sought to fill the role from within the UK domestic labor market.
Get Your Certificate of Sponsorship
Once you have a confirmed job offer, your employer issues a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) — a digital reference confirming the role, salary, and your eligibility under the Health and Care Worker requirements specifically. For this route, your employer also needs to include a brief explanation in the CoS detailing how you meet the route’s particular requirements, which differs slightly from the standard Skilled Worker CoS process.
Meet the Salary and Skill Requirements
As of 2026, the minimum salary threshold for the Health and Care Worker visa is generally £31,300 per year, or the “going rate” for your specific occupation, whichever is higher — though care worker and senior care worker roles specifically qualify for salary thresholds well below the standard Skilled Worker minimum of £38,700, which is a large part of why this route has become the primary pathway for international care sector recruitment. If you’re under 26, switching from a Student or Graduate visa, or early in your career, you may qualify as a “new entrant,” allowing you to apply at 70% of the standard going rate for your occupation. Your specific job title and duties also need to correspond to an eligible Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code for health and care roles.
Begin Professional Registration Early
If your role requires professional registration — relevant to some health and care positions — starting that process as early as possible is important, since delays in registration can hold up your sponsorship, lead to a visa refusal, or in some cases result in a withdrawn job offer. Don’t wait until your CoS is issued to begin this step if it applies to your role.
Submit Your Visa Application
With your CoS in hand, you’ll submit your Health and Care Worker visa application online, along with the required supporting documents confirming your eligibility, identity, and the details of your sponsored role. The Health and Care visa route is fast-tracked by UKVI, meaning applications are typically processed within three weeks of submitting your biometric information, considerably faster than the eight-to-twenty-week processing window for some other UK work visa routes.
What the Visa Allows Once Approved
Successful applicants can live and work in the UK for up to five years and extend the visa as many times as needed, provided they remain eligible. After five years of continuous residence, Health and Care visa holders become eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), after which you’re no longer subject to visa sponsorship restrictions and can change employers freely. Visa holders can also take on additional work beyond their sponsored role, though depending on the nature and hours of a second job, you may need to update your details with the Home Office.
Official Contacts
Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW)
Regulates care providers in Wales and confirms which employers are eligible to sponsor
Website: careinspectorate.wales
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) – Health and Care Worker Visa
Website: gov.uk/health-care-worker-visa
GOV.UK – Skilled Worker Visa Overview
Website: gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa
Join The Discussion
Have you gone through the process of applying for a caregiver role in Wales, whether recently or previously? Share what the sponsorship process looked like for you, how long your visa application took, or any tips for finding a CIW-regulated employer. If you’re just starting this process, feel free to ask questions — there’s a good chance someone here has firsthand experience navigating the Health and Care Worker visa route.
