The minimum salary threshold for staff on a Health and Care Worker (HCW) visa is expected to increase from £20,960 to £23,200 from April 2024. This applies to new visa applications as well as extending existing visas.
NHS pay rates for 2024/25, which would be effective from 1 April 2024, will not be known until the government confirms the pay outcome which may be months away. The changes to salary thresholds could therefore create issues during the period between 1 April 2024 and when the new salary rates are confirmed.
Once the new threshold comes into force, anyone working on a HCW visa earning below the £23,200 threshold could be affected.
The impact will vary across the UK with Scotland unaffected as all pay rates are already above the threshold. In England and Wales, the threshold will be below the top pay point in band 3. In Northern Ireland the threshold is currently below the bottom pay point in band 4 because the 2023 pay rise has not yet been implemented.
This could impact current staff who need to extend a HCW visa or new workers applying for a HCW visa during this period.
These changes shouldn’t impact the dependents of those on a HCW visa, who can be employed by an NHS trust at any role regardless of skill level or salary threshold, as long as the main visa holder meets the appropriate general salary threshold. Dependents have a generic right to work meaning that they can be employed by the NHS, in another sector or not work.
In the UK, although decisions on health policy are devolved, decisions on immigration are not. UNISON has raised the serious nature and potential implications for overseas workers through the NHS Staff Council. In response NHS Employers have updated their guidance to employers.
Read the NHS Employers guidance – https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles/impacts-changes-uk-immigration-policy
We will update branches when we know more. In the meantime, branches are advised to work in partnership with employers to find local solutions – in particular to ensure that the new salary threshold does not create problems for existing staff with visas up for renewal during the affected period – and let us know of any potential issues health@unison.co.uk.