Does the NHS sponsor visas for overseas staff?
Yes. NHS employers sponsor overseas staff, but there is no single NHS licence: each trust or health board is its own sponsor, so check the register for the body named on the advert. The register of 11 November 2026 lists at least 195 English NHS trusts, 7 Welsh health boards, 14 Scottish NHS boards and 5 Northern Ireland HSC trusts. GOV.UK’s Health and Care Worker visa page lists the occupation codes that can use that visa, with its other requirements. Codes for nurses, midwives, doctors and nursing assistants are on it.
Does the NHS sponsor visas?
Yes, but there is no single NHS sponsor licence. Each NHS trust, health board or Health and Social Care (HSC) trust holds its own, so check the register for the body named on the advert. GOV.UK’s Health and Care Worker visa page names the NHS first among the employers you can work for:
You must have a job offer from: the NHS an organisation providing medical services to the NHS an organisation providing adult social care
You must have a job offer from an approved UK employer before you apply for a Health and Care Worker visa. Approved employers are also known as sponsors, because they are sponsoring you to come to or stay in the UK.
Which NHS body sponsors you: trust, health board or NHS England?
The NHS is run separately in each UK nation, and the employer is a different kind of body in each. GOV.UK’s Health and Care visa guidance lists the NHS employers by name. For England it starts:
An NHS Foundation Trust in England, an NHS Trust in England, the Care Quality Commission, Health Education England,
A local Health Board in Wales, Health Education & Improvement Wales, Public Health Wales, The Welsh Ambulance Service or Velindre NHS Trust; or
A Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland,
The table shows how those employers are named on the register of 11 November 2026.
| Nation | Who usually employs NHS staff | Register names, for example |
|---|---|---|
| England | NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts (hospital, mental health, community and ambulance trusts) | Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust; London Ambulance Service NHS Trust |
| Wales | Local health boards, plus a few national NHS Wales bodies | Cardiff and Vale University Health Board; Velindre NHS Trust; Public Health Wales NHS Trust |
| Scotland | NHS boards (named ‘NHS’ plus the area) | NHS Lothian; NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde; NHS Highland |
| Northern Ireland | Health and social care trusts | Belfast Health & Social Care Trust; Western Health & Social Care Trust |
| National bodies | Separate employers with their own licences | NHS England; NHS Blood and Transplant; NHS Business Services Authority |
This matters when you check an employer. A job at a hospital is with the trust or board that runs it, so search the register for that body’s legal name, not the hospital’s name. GP and dental practices are separate employers from the trust or board, so search the register for the practice’s own legal name. If you rotate between hospitals, for example as a doctor in training, the certificate of sponsorship (the reference your employer assigns for your visa application) names your sponsor: search the register for that name.
How many NHS bodies hold a sponsor licence?
We searched the GOV.UK register of licensed sponsors (workers) dated 11 November 2026 by organisation name. These are our counts from that file. A name search can miss a body listed under another name, for example ‘Barts Health National Health Service Trust’, so the English figure is a minimum.
| What we searched for | Found on the register |
|---|---|
| England: names ending ‘NHS Trust’ or ‘NHS Foundation Trust’ | 195 |
| Wales: local health boards | 7: Aneurin Bevan, Betsi Cadwaladr, Cardiff and Vale, Cwm Taf Morgannwg, Hywel Dda, Powys Teaching, Swansea Bay |
| Wales: names ending ‘NHS Trust’ | 2: Velindre NHS Trust, Public Health Wales NHS Trust. Welsh Ambulance Services Trust is also on the register, but its name does not end ‘NHS Trust’, so it is not in this count. |
| Scotland: NHS area boards | 14: Ayrshire and Arran, Borders, Dumfries & Galloway, Fife, Forth Valley, Grampian, Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Highland, Lanarkshire, Lothian, Orkney, Shetland, Tayside, Western Isles |
| Northern Ireland: health and social care trusts | 5: Belfast, Northern, South Eastern, Southern, Western |
| Route shown on the register for the 197 trusts above (195 English, 2 Welsh) | All 197 list ‘Skilled Worker’ (two also list a second route). The register has no separate Health and Care row, because that visa is part of Skilled Worker. |
GOV.UK’s guidance explains why there is no separate row:
As the Health and Care Visa currently forms part of Skilled Worker, anyone wishing to apply for the Health and Care Visa must meet all of the requirements for the relevant route.
A licence means the body can sponsor. It does not mean every job it advertises is open to sponsorship. If an NHS body is not on the register under the name you searched, that is not proof it has no licence: try its full legal name, and check the register date.
Health and Care Worker visa or Skilled Worker visa for an NHS job?
Both visas are sponsored by the same NHS employer. The table shows which example jobs have a code on GOV.UK’s Health and Care list (an occupation code is the 4-digit code GOV.UK gives each type of job). The full requirements are quoted below it.
| NHS job, for example | On GOV.UK’s Health and Care list (first application)? | Visa GOV.UK describes |
|---|---|---|
| Nurse | Yes (2232 to 2237, for example 2235: registered mental health nurses) | Health and Care Worker visa |
| Midwife | Yes (2231: midwifery nurses) | Health and Care Worker visa |
| Doctor | Yes (2211, 2212) | Health and Care Worker visa |
| Physiotherapist, paramedic, pharmacist | Yes (2221, 2255, 2251) | Health and Care Worker visa |
| Healthcare assistant | Yes (6131: nursing auxiliaries and assistants) | Health and Care Worker visa |
| Biomedical scientist, laboratory technician | Yes (2113, 3111) | Health and Care Worker visa |
| IT, finance, HR, estates, administration | Not in the list quoted below, unless the job’s code is 1171 (health services and public health managers and directors) | Skilled Worker visa, if the job meets the Skilled Worker requirements quoted below |
You must meet all of the following requirements to be eligible for a Health and Care Worker visa: you’re a qualified doctor, nurse, health professional or adult social care professional your job is eligible for this visa you’ll be working for a UK health and care sector employer that’s been approved by the Home Office you’ll be paid the minimum salary or the ‘going rate’ for the type of work you’ll be doing - whichever is higher
The full GOV.UK list for a first application:
You can apply for a Health and Care Worker visa if your job is in one of the following occupation codes: 1171: health services and public health managers and directors 1232: residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors 2113: biochemists and biomedical scientists 2114: physical scientists 2211: generalist medical practitioners 2212: specialist medical practitioners 2221: physiotherapists 2222: occupational therapists 2223: speech and language therapists 2224: psychotherapists and cognitive behaviour therapists 2225: clinical psychologists 2226: other psychologists 2229: therapy professionals not elsewhere classified 2231: midwifery nurses 2232: registered community nurses 2233: registered specialist nurses 2234: registered nurse practitioners 2235: registered mental health nurses 2236: registered children’s nurses 2237: other registered nursing professionals 2251: pharmacists 2252: optometrists 2253: dental practitioners 2254: medical radiographers 2255: paramedics 2256: podiatrists 2259: other health professionals not elsewhere classified 2461: social workers 3111: laboratory technicians 3212: pharmaceutical technicians 6131: nursing auxiliaries and assistants
In short: the list includes doctors, nurses, midwives, therapists, psychologists, pharmacists, paramedics, radiographers, laboratory and pharmaceutical technicians, nursing auxiliaries and assistants, social workers, and some health and care managers and scientists. Codes for general IT, finance, HR and administration jobs are not on it.
GOV.UK lists more codes for people extending, updating or switching to this visa. One example:
If you’re extending, updating or switching to a Health and Care Worker visa, your job can also be in one of the following ‘medium skilled’ occupation codes: 6135: care workers and home carers 6136: senior care workers If you’re switching from a different visa, you must have been working legally in your job for your sponsor for at least 3 months.
Our Health and Care Worker visa guide covers those extra codes. For an NHS job outside the list, for example in IT, finance or estates, GOV.UK’s Skilled Worker requirements apply:
To qualify for a Skilled Worker visa, you must: work for a UK employer that’s been approved by the Home Office have a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ ( CoS ) from your employer with information about the role you’ve been offered in the UK do a job that’s on the list of eligible occupations be paid a minimum salary - how much depends on the type of work you do and the date you got your CoS
Does my NHS employer decide whether I get the Health and Care visa?
Your employer confirms it on the certificate of sponsorship. GOV.UK’s guidance says:
The employer will be required to include a brief explanation in the Certificate of Sponsorship setting out how the employee meets the Health and Care Visa eligibility requirement set out in paragraphs 2 and 3. The employer will also be responsible for informing the applicant they are eligible for the Health and Care Visa so the applicant can correctly complete the visa application form.
You should not tick the Health and Care Visa box if your employer has not confirmed on the Certificate of Sponsorship that you are eligible. Where an application is made, but the applicant does not appear to meet the conditions, that application may be rejected (as the correct fee will not have been paid). If you are unsure you should check with your sponsor before completing the application.
In short: the certificate of sponsorship is where your employer confirms your eligibility for the Health and Care visa. GOV.UK says not to tick the Health and Care box unless your employer has confirmed this, that an application from someone who does not appear to meet the conditions may be rejected, and to check with your sponsor if you are unsure.
What the Health and Care visa changes for you
The two visas differ mainly in cost. First the Health and Care visa, from GOV.UK’s guidance, then the Skilled Worker visa:
The benefits for such workers are fast-track entry, reduced visa fees and dedicated support to come to the UK with their families. People applying for the Health and Care Visa, and their dependant family, are exempt from paying the Immigration Health Surcharge.
You, your partner or children will each need to: pay the application fee pay the healthcare surcharge for each year of your stay prove you have enough personal savings
If you’re a doctor or nurse, or you work in health or adult social care, check if you’re eligible to apply for the Health and Care Worker visa instead. It’s cheaper to apply for and you do not need to pay the annual immigration health surcharge.
In short: on the Health and Care visa, you and your partner or children do not pay the immigration health surcharge (the charge for NHS care), and the visa is cheaper to apply for. On the Skilled Worker visa, each of you pays the surcharge for each year of your stay. Our surcharge guide has the amounts, and our Health and Care Worker visa page has the visa fees.
How to check if an NHS job will sponsor your visa
- Find the employer’s legal name on the advert: the NHS trust, the health board, or the Health and Social Care (HSC) trust in Northern Ireland, not only the hospital.
- Search the GOV.UK ‘Register of licensed sponsors: workers’ (the last link under Sources) for that name, and note the register date. Our guide to checking a sponsor licence shows how.
- If the advert does not show the 4-digit occupation code, ask the recruitment contact named on the advert, then compare it with GOV.UK’s Health and Care list above.
- For an NHS IT, data, finance or estates job: check the code is on the Skilled Worker list of eligible occupations, and check the salary rules for that code. Our occupation code and going rate page covers both.
- When you get the certificate of sponsorship, check whether it confirms the Health and Care visa before you fill in the form.
Jobs at UK employers on the Home Office register of licensed sponsors
What it means for your job search
Common questions
Is there one NHS sponsor licence for the whole NHS?
No. On the register, NHS trusts, health boards and national NHS bodies such as NHS England appear as separate organisations, each with its own entry. Your certificate of sponsorship names the sponsor.
Does the NHS sponsor healthcare assistants?
Code 6131 is on GOV.UK’s Health and Care Worker visa ‘Your job’ list: “6131: nursing auxiliaries and assistants”. The other requirements, including pay, still apply; they are on the same GOV.UK page.
Does the NHS sponsor admin or IT jobs?
On the register of 11 November 2026, all 197 NHS trusts we found by name in England and Wales list the Skilled Worker route. Whether a given job qualifies depends on the Skilled Worker requirements quoted above, including that you “do a job that’s on the list of eligible occupations” (GOV.UK Skilled Worker visa page).
Can a GP practice sponsor me?
A GP practice is a separate employer from the trust or board, so search the register for the practice’s own legal name. GOV.UK’s Health and Care visa guidance for applicants includes a person “employed or engaged by a party to: (a) A general medical services contract to provide primary medical services”.
How do I check an NHS trust has a licence?
Search the GOV.UK register of licensed sponsors (workers) for the trust’s full legal name. Some bodies are listed under longer names, for example ‘Barts Health National Health Service Trust’. See ‘How many NHS bodies hold a sponsor licence?’ for what a missing result means.
Do national NHS bodies like NHS England sponsor?
Some hold their own licence. On the register of 11 November 2026 we found NHS England, NHS Blood and Transplant, NHS Business Services Authority and NHS Resolution, each listed with the Skilled Worker route. What a licence does and does not tell you is in ‘How many NHS bodies hold a sponsor licence?’.