Sponsor Licence for Care Workers: 2026 UK Employer Guide

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Care roles are closed to overseas hiring: Since 22 July 2025, care worker (SOC 6135) and senior care worker (SOC 6136) roles can only be filled from workers already in the UK, with in-country switching allowed until 22 July 2028. Nurses, doctors and other health roles under the Health and Care Worker Visa remain fully open.
CQC registration is the precondition: To sponsor care workers in England you must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (or the Care Inspectorate, CIW or RQIA in the devolved nations); without it you're limited to the standard Skilled Worker route.
Pay the highest of three figures: £25,000 (about £12.82/hour) for national-pay-scale or Immigration Salary List roles, £31,300 for non-pay-scale roles, or the SOC going rate if higher.
The application itself is standard: Appoint your key personnel, build the evidence pack and apply via UKVI, the same as any employer. Follow our sponsor licence application guide for the step-by-step process.

A UK sponsor licence remains essential for hiring international care staff in 2026, but the rules changed significantly in July 2025. This guide explains the current Health and Care Worker Visa requirements to help care providers avoid costly application mistakes.

Whether you run a single independent care home, a domiciliary agency like Agincare, or a national operator like Barchester, here is exactly how overseas recruitment works today:

Closed overseas routes: You can no longer sponsor care workers or senior care workers from abroad. You may only recruit for these roles from candidates already living inside the UK.
Open overseas routes: You can still use your sponsor licence to recruit nurses, doctors, and other qualified health professionals directly from overseas.

UK care worker visa timeline - overseas recruitment closed July 2025, in-country switching until July 2028

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What a care sponsor licence actually lets you do in 2026

This is the change most guides still get wrong. On 22 July 2025 the Home Office split the Health and Care Worker route in two:

Role type	SOC code	Can you sponsor from overseas?
Care worker	6135	No. Closed to new overseas applicants since 22 July 2025. In-country switching only.
Senior care worker	6136	No. Closed to new overseas applicants since 22 July 2025. In-country switching only.
Registered nurse	2231	Yes. Fully open to overseas sponsorship.
Doctors, allied health professionals (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, etc.)	Various	Yes. Fully open to overseas sponsorship.

So a care-role licence now only lets you sponsor care workers and senior care workers who are already in the UK, people on a Graduate, Student or other eligible visa switching into the role.
That in-country switching window runs until 22 July 2028 (kept under review), and it comes with a condition: the worker must have been legally employed by you for at least three months before you assign their Certificate of Sponsorship.
The three-month rule doesn't apply to someone already continuously sponsored under the Skilled Worker or Health and Care route in one of these roles.

CQC registration: the precondition for a care sponsor licence

Before the Home Office will let you sponsor care workers or senior care workers in England, you must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and carrying out at least one CQC-regulated activity. This is checked against your sponsor file, so what the CQC register shows and what your licence application claims need to line up.

England: CQC registration.
Scotland: Care Inspectorate.
Wales: Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW).
Northern Ireland: RQIA.

If your organisation isn't registered with the relevant regulator, you can't use the Health and Care Worker route for care roles at all. You'd fall back to the standard Skilled Worker route, which means losing the Immigration Health Surcharge exemption and the reduced visa fees that make the health and care route so much cheaper to run.

Not registered with a care regulator? Here's how the standard route works instead → UK Skilled Worker Visa: a guide for employers

Decision flowchart for whether a UK care provider can sponsor a worker in 2026

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Salary thresholds for sponsored care and health roles (2026)

Salary is where care sponsors most often trip up, because the "£25,000 minimum" you see quoted is only one of three numbers. You must pay the highest of the applicable cash floor, the hourly floor, and the going rate for the specific SOC code.

Situation	Minimum salary
Roles on a national pay scale (NHS Agenda for Change) or the Immigration Salary List	£25,000 a year, roughly £12.82 an hour on a 37.5-hour week, and the SOC going rate if it's higher
Health and care roles not on a national pay scale	£31,300 general threshold, or the SOC going rate, whichever is higher

The going rate is published per SOC code and, for NHS roles, tracks Agenda for Change pay bands. Nurses and allied health professionals on Band 5 and above generally clear the threshold comfortably; care and senior care roles sit at the lower end and need checking case by case. Only base salary and guaranteed allowances count, overtime and bonuses don't.

Our Health and Care Worker Visa guide works through the figures in detail.

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Other care-specific conditions worth knowing

No dependants for care roles: Care workers and senior care workers sponsored since 11 March 2024 can't bring dependants. This applies to new applications only, and it's the single biggest factor in candidate attraction, especially for people with families. More on dependant rules here.
English at B2: New applicants must meet CEFR Level B2 from 8 January 2026, up from B1.
Settlement route protected: Health and Care Worker visa holders stay on the five-year continuous-residence route to Indefinite Leave to Remain, even as most other routes move to a ten-year path from April 2026.
Displaced-worker pool is now optional: The old rule requiring you to recruit from the displaced-worker pool before sponsoring has been removed. You're still encouraged to contact your regional care partnership, but it's no longer a mandatory step.

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How to apply for the licence

The mechanics of applying, appointing your Authorising Officer, Key Contact and Level 1 User, building the evidence pack, submitting through the UKVI portal and preparing for a compliance check, are the same for care providers as for any other employer.

Fee	Small / charitable sponsor	Large sponsor	Notes
Worker licence application	£611	£1,682	One-off. Rates from 8 April 2026.
Priority service	£750	£750	Optional. Decision in 10 working days, subject to availability.
Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)	£525 per CoS	£525 per CoS	Payable each time you sponsor a worker.
Immigration Skills Charge (ISC)	Exempt	Exempt	Health and Care Worker sponsors don't pay the ISC.
Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS)	Exempt	Exempt	Paid by the worker on other routes; waived on the Health and Care route.

How Jobbatical helps care employers become licensed sponsors

At Jobbatical.com, our platform simplifies immigration for care and health employers hiring across the UK and Europe. We offer:

Expert application support: guided audits and document prep to strengthen your licence application.
End-to-end case management: from CoS issuance to visa processing and onboarding.
Europe-wide network: one platform for multi-country clinical and care hires.

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Disclaimer: Immigration rules change quite frequently; please verify with official sources or contact us for the latest info before making any decisions.

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Frequently Asked Question UK Health and Care Worker Visa Sponsor Licence

Can a UK care provider recruit a new care worker from overseas in 2026?

No. The route for new overseas applicants in care worker (SOC 6135) and senior care worker (SOC 6136) roles closed on 22 July 2025. You can only sponsor these roles from workers already in the UK, and in-country switching runs until 22 July 2028. Nurses, doctors and other health roles remain fully open to overseas recruitment.

What's the condition for switching an existing UK worker into a sponsored care role?

The worker must have been legally employed by you for at least three months before you assign their Certificate of Sponsorship. This three-month rule does not apply to someone already continuously sponsored under the Skilled Worker or Health and Care route in a care worker or senior care worker role.

What is the key registration requirement to sponsor care workers in 2026?

In England you must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and carrying out at least one regulated activity. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use the Care Inspectorate, CIW and RQIA respectively. Without registration you can't use the Health and Care route for care roles.

Can I use the nursing assistant SOC code to get around the care worker closure?

No. The rules specifically prohibit using SOC 6131 (nursing auxiliaries and assistants) as a substitute for the closed care worker codes. Licence holders found doing this can have their sponsor licence revoked.

What is the minimum salary for a sponsored care or health role in 2026?

You must pay the highest of the applicable figures. For roles on a national pay scale or the Immigration Salary List, the floor is £25,000 a year (about £12.82 an hour) plus the SOC going rate if higher. Roles not on a national pay scale face a £31,300 general threshold, or the going rate if higher.

Are Health and Care Worker visa holders still on the five-year settlement route?

Yes. They remain on the five-year continuous-residence route to Indefinite Leave to Remain, unlike most other routes which move to a ten-year path from April 2026.

Maliha Ahmed

Maliha Ahmed is an IAA-accredited Immigration Advisor at Jobbatical, specialising in UK business immigration. She holds an LLB Law (Honours) from Brunel University London and brings 8 years of experience advising SMEs and large enterprises on skilled worker visas, sponsor licence applications, Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), SMS compliance, and global mobility. She is an active member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (ILPA) and she regularly participates in corporate immigration events to stay current with UKVI policy changes.

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