New overseas care-worker recruitment has ended

From 22 July 2025, new Skilled Worker and Health and Care Worker entry-clearance applications are not permitted for care workers and home carers (SOC 6135) or senior care workers (SOC 6136). There are two in-country pathways under SW 6.1B: one for people already holding sponsored care-worker permission, and one for qualifying workers who have worked legally for the sponsor for at least three months before the CoS is issued. The second pathway requires an application before 22 July 2028; that is not a blanket expiry date for all care-worker extensions.

This restriction is occupation-specific. Other eligible health professionals may still apply from overseas under the Health and Care Worker route if they meet their occupation, employer, salary and route requirements.

How to Find Licensed Care Homes

A register entry shows licence presence, not a care-home classification, current vacancy or promise to sponsor. Verify the exact legal organisation using the licence checker, confirm that an England-based provider is undertaking a regulated activity and registered with the CQC, and ask whether the vacancy falls within the limited in-country transition.

Start with the actual vacancy and employing organisation

Ask which legal entity will employ you and assign the CoS. A familiar care-group brand is not evidence that a particular vacancy qualifies or that the group is recruiting sponsored workers.

Search by source location

If you have a preference for where you want to live, you can search our database by city or region. For example, search for care homes in Birmingham, Manchester, or Edinburgh.

WARNING: Care Sector Scams

Do not pay for a job offer or CoS. Check the exact employer in the licence checker, and contact it independently to confirm the offer. A register match does not prove that a recruiter is genuine.

Check the occupation, not just the care-home setting

SOC 6135 covers care workers and home carers; 6136 covers senior care workers. Nurses have separate occupation codes and salary tables: choose the code matching the duties in the SOC checker, rather than treating every care-home job as a care-worker role.

How to Apply

First establish whether the vacancy and your immigration history meet the in-country rules. Then apply through the employer's genuine recruitment channel. A job board or directory cannot establish eligibility.

  1. Check the employer is licensed. Search the company on FindMySponsor or the GOV.UK register. For care roles in England, also check CQC registration. A narrow exception applies to people continuously sponsored in these codes since before 11 March 2024 who are applying with the same sponsor: check SW 6.1C.
  2. Verify the route. The register should show Skilled Worker permission for the sponsor. Health and Care treatment is part of that route, not a separate register licence category. Confirm the job, employer and care-worker conditions in the official sponsor guidance.
  3. Apply directly to the employer. Use the employer's official careers site. Never pay anyone for a job offer or a Certificate of Sponsorship.
  4. Get your Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS). Once your employer assigns a CoS, you apply for the visa on GOV.UK. Read our CoS guide.

How to verify a care employer

Do not rely on a brand list or a company-name category. The Home Office register does not identify an organisation's industry and similarly named legal entities can have different licence positions.

  1. Ask the employer for the exact legal or trading name used on its sponsor licence.
  2. Enter that name in the sponsor licence checker.
  3. Confirm the recorded route, rating and source location against the job offer.
  4. Recheck the current GOV.UK register before relying on the result.

Register presence does not prove that an employer is recruiting, has a vacancy or can sponsor your particular care role.

Key GOV.UK resources for care workers

Reviewed 11 October 2026. Sources: GOV.UK sponsor guidance, Health and Care Worker visa, and CQC. Informational only, not legal advice.

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