Health and Care Worker codes
Health and Care Worker visa occupation codes, what is currently eligible
The Health and Care Worker visa does not use one simple list in practice. Current Home Office guidance separates the occupations into a main eligible group, care worker roles that are now limited to qualifying in country applications, and several codes that are mainly available under transitional arrangements. Counting every code that can still qualify in at least one of those circumstances gives 39 SOC 2020 occupation codes, but they are not all open to a new applicant overseas.
Last reviewed 21 October 2026
Key points
- There are 39 Health and Care visa SOC 2020 codes that can still qualify in at least one current or transitional scenario.
- 31 codes appear on the main applicant list without the special care worker or pre July 2025 transitional restriction.
- 6135 Care workers and home carers and 6136 Senior care workers are now limited to qualifying in country applications.
- Six further codes are available mainly for qualifying extensions or changes of employment where the first relevant sponsorship was before 22 July 2025.
The 31 main Health and Care occupation codes
The current applicant guidance lists these 31 codes in the main group: 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; and 6131 Nursing auxiliaries and assistants.
This list still needs to be read with the Skilled Worker rules on skill level, salary, sponsor eligibility and any occupation specific conditions.
Two care worker codes are now in country only
SOC 6135 Care workers and home carers and SOC 6136 Senior care workers remain within the Health and Care route only for qualifying permission to stay cases. The overseas route for new care worker and senior care worker recruitment closed on 22 July 2025.
For a person switching into these roles from another route, current guidance requires that they have already been working legally in the job for the sponsor for at least three months before the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned. In England, the relevant CQC requirements also apply.
Six codes are mainly transitional
The current applicant guidance also identifies six codes for qualifying extension or change of employment cases where the worker received the Certificate of Sponsorship for their first Tier 2 or Skilled Worker visa before 22 July 2025 and has continuously held relevant permission: 1231 Health care practice managers; 3211 Dispensing opticians; 3213 Medical and dental technicians; 3219 Health associate professionals not elsewhere classified; 6132 Ambulance staff excluding paramedics; and 6133 Dental nurses.
These should not be presented to a new overseas applicant as if they were freely open in the same way as the main higher skilled healthcare occupations.
The important 2026 Home Office update
The Skilled Worker caseworker guidance was updated on 3 August 2026. The July 2026 Statement of Changes, HC 259, also amended some transitional timing rules so that the relevant deadline is tied to when the sponsor issued the Certificate of Sponsorship, rather than simply the date the visa application was made.
For GTN this means we should not treat a healthcare SOC code as a simple yes or no field. The platform should distinguish main current eligibility, in country care worker eligibility, and transitional eligibility, and should preserve the date and route context behind that status.
Official sources
Rules and public datasets can change. Use the official source when making a current decision.