Midwife in the UK: your Skilled Worker visa, step by step

A test built for midwives, not borrowed from nursing

The most common mistake overseas midwives make is assuming they will sit the nursing exam. They will not. The Nursing and Midwifery Council keeps a distinct register part for midwives, RM, and it runs a midwifery Test of Competence with a midwifery test specification and a midwifery mock OSCE. A midwife who also holds a nursing qualification and wants both registrations would be looking at two different tests.

The fee structure matches the nursing route. The NMC charges for the qualification assessment, which is not refunded if the outcome goes against you, for the computer-based test, for the practical OSCE, and for joining the register once you pass. Put together, it publishes a worked example of the total for a candidate who needs both tests. The current amounts are on the NMC's joining the register pages. On top of the tests, the NMC asks for English language evidence, health and character declarations and an identity check done in person. The NMC gives no timescale for the process, and neither does this page.

Newly qualified midwives are appointed at Band 5

Gov.uk confirmed on 11 August 2025 that maternity support worker posts were being converted to Band 5 midwifery roles specifically for newly qualified midwives. That is the entry point. The NHS Employers profiles for midwifery then move up through Band 6 and Band 7 to Band 8a to 8b, and finally 8c to 9 for the heads of midwifery. A consultant midwife can earn up to the top of Band 8c.

Which of those bands you are recruited into is the sponsor's decision, written into the vacancy before you ever apply. It is the post that carries the band, not the applicant. The visa test is then mechanical: the salary on the Certificate of Sponsorship must reach the band rate for that post in the relevant nation. Independent maternity providers are bound by the same figures as NHS trusts.

Skilled Worker also has general thresholds of £41,700 (UK Home Office, effective July 22, 2025) and £33,400. Midwifery is not listed on the Immigration Salary List, the shortlist of occupations permitted to use £33,400. For a pay-scale code like 2231, however, the band table is the figure everybody works from.

NHS band rates by nation (annual)

What code 2231 covers

Gov.uk gives a single related title for code 2231: midwives. That simplicity is useful. A sponsor issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship for a midwife has one obvious code to use, and the duties on the certificate must genuinely be midwifery. If a trust wanted to hire a dual-registered person into a general nursing post, the nursing codes would apply instead, with the same pay-scale rule.

Health and Care Worker visa: what midwives save

Code 2231 sits on the list of occupations eligible for the Health and Care Worker visa. Two things change compared with a standard Skilled Worker application. The application fee is lower. And there is no immigration health surcharge to pay, whereas other work visas charge £1,035 (UK Home Office, effective February 6, 2024) for each person for each year of the visa. For a midwife applying with a spouse, the saving is doubled. Eligibility rests on the sponsor issuing the certificate under a qualifying code, so ask for that confirmation in writing. Immigration rules do move, so re-check the gov.uk page close to the date you apply.

Other doors if sponsorship does not come through

• Already in the UK on another visa? A licensed sponsor can usually take you onto Skilled Worker from inside the country, without a return home first.
• Canada's healthcare category in Express Entry. IRCC announced on 18 February 2026 that the health care and social services category carries on in 2026. Candidates in that category can be invited at lower scores than the general pool.
• Provincial nomination in Canada. Healthcare streams run in many provinces. A nomination is worth 600 CRS points, CRS being Canada's Comprehensive Ranking System.

Our assessment checks you against every open UK and Canadian route in about three minutes and shows your score, where you stand and the first thing that would raise it. No card needed for that. Seeing every route in full needs a plan. See where you stand →