Health and Care Worker visa

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Taking on additional work

You can do additional paid work on a Health and Care Worker visa as long as you’re still doing the job you’re being sponsored for.

If you complete your GP training, you can do 4 months of additional paid work.

You may need to apply to update your visa to do additional paid work. This will depend on the type of work you’re doing and the hours you’re going to work.

If you work overtime in the job you’re being sponsored for, you do not need to update your visa. 

There’s no limit to how many hours of overtime you can do.

You can also work up to 20 hours a week in another job or for your own business, as long as you’re still doing the job you’re being sponsored for. 

Your work must be either:

You can only do additional work in a job listed as ‘medium skilled’ if both of the following apply:

  • you got your certificate of sponsorship for your first Tier 2 or Health and Care Worker visa before 22 July 2025 
  • you have continually held one or more Health and Care Worker visas since then

You can also do voluntary work. This must be unpaid (except for reasonable expenses such as travel) and for one of the following:

  • a registered charity
  • a voluntary organisation 
  • an associated fundraising body (an organisation that raises money for a charity or voluntary organisation)
  • a statutory body (a government-appointed body, for example Historic England)

When you need to update your visa

You must update your visa if your additional job is more than 20 hours a week.

You do not need to update it if you’re:

  • working overtime in the job you’re being sponsored for
  • working ‘bank shifts’ for your NHS sponsor

Apply to update your visa

To apply, you’ll need to:

  • get a new certificate of sponsorship from your second employer
  • include a letter with your application explaining that you want to change your current permission to stay

Apply to update your visa.

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