Your career in the UK
Nurse in the UK: your Skilled Worker visa, step by step
Salary rules for this occupation
Occupation codes: 2232, 2233, 2234, 2235, 2236, 2237
Annual, by nation. Healthcare occupations must be paid at least the band rate for the role, public or private sector.
This is a rule, not a law of nature. We check the Home Office weekly and this page updates when it changes.
Where a nurse's pay sits on the NHS ladder
Nursing is one of the few Skilled Worker occupations where gov.uk does not publish a going rate at all. In its place sits the national pay scale for eligible healthcare occupation codes. Healthcareers.nhs.uk describes new nurses as starting at Band 5 with opportunities to progress. The NHS Employers national profiles then run Band 5, Band 6, Band 7, Band 8a, and on through 8a to 8c and 8c to 9 for the most senior nursing leadership posts. Theatre nurses, for instance, can progress to roles at Band 8 and above.
None of that means a page like this can hand you a band. The band is fixed by the vacancy, not by your years of experience abroad, so two nurses with identical CVs can be offered different bands by different trusts. What the visa rules require is simple: whatever band the post carries, the salary on your Certificate of Sponsorship has to be at least that band's rate in the nation where you will work. A private hospital or care provider sponsoring a registered nurse is held to the same table as an NHS trust.
The Skilled Worker route has two general thresholds, £41,700 (UK Home Office, effective July 22, 2025) and £33,400. Nursing is not on the Immigration Salary List, the list of occupations allowed to use the reduced £33,400 threshold. For pay-scale occupations the band table is what sponsors and caseworkers work from, and the salary checker linked at the top of this page shows how an offer measures up.
NHS band rates by nation (annual)
NMC registration: the Test of Competence for your part of the register
You cannot work as a registered nurse in the UK without being on the Nursing and Midwifery Council register. For nurses who trained outside the UK the gateway is the Test of Competence. It is not one generic nursing exam. The test matches the part of the register you are joining: adult nursing (RNA), mental health nursing (RNMH), learning disabilities nursing (RNLD) or children's nursing (RNC).
The test has two stages. The CBT is a computer-based test. The OSCE is a practical exam taken in person. The NMC requires you to pass the CBT and the OSCE within two years of each other. Alongside the tests you need English language evidence, health and character checks, and an in-person identity check.
The NMC charges separately for the qualification assessment, which is not refunded whatever the outcome, for the computer-based test, for the practical OSCE, and for joining the register once you pass. It publishes a worked example of the total for a nurse who needs both tests. These are the NMC's own fees, set and changed by the NMC rather than the Home Office, so check the current figures on the NMC's joining the register pages before you budget. The NMC does not state how long the whole process takes, so this page does not either.
Six codes, one pay rule
Registered nursing spans six occupation codes. Gov.uk lists the related titles as registered community nurses, registered specialist nurses, registered nurse practitioners, registered mental health nurses, registered children's nurses and other registered nursing professionals. Your employer picks the code when it issues the Certificate of Sponsorship, and the code has to be an honest description of the duties. Because all six codes are pay-scale codes, the choice between them does not change the salary test; the band on the post does.
No health surcharge for sponsored nurses
Every one of the six nursing codes is eligible for the Health and Care Worker visa, a version of the Skilled Worker visa reserved for health and social care roles. Its application fee is lower than the standard route. More importantly for a family, it removes the immigration health surcharge altogether. On an ordinary work visa that charge is £1,035 (UK Home Office, effective February 6, 2024) per person per year, and it is counted for every dependant too. A nurse bringing a partner and two children avoids it for all four people. Confirm with your sponsor that your Certificate of Sponsorship is issued for the Health and Care route before you pay anything.
If this route does not fit, what else is open
- Switching inside the UK. Nurses already here on a Student, Graduate or other visa can often move onto Skilled Worker once a licensed sponsor makes an offer, without leaving the country.
- Canada's health care category draws. IRCC confirmed on 18 February 2026 that its Express Entry category for health care and social services continues through 2026, with nurse practitioners named among the examples. Being in a category can bring an invitation at a lower score than the general pool.
- A provincial nomination in Canada. Many provinces run healthcare streams, and a nomination adds 600 points to a CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System) score.
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 →
Check your own offer
Frequently asked questions
- What band does a newly qualified nurse start on in the NHS?
Band 5. In England that is £29,970 (National pay scales for eligible healthcare occupation codes, effective July 22, 2025) a year, in Scotland £31,892, in Wales £30,420 and in Northern Ireland £28,407. The band you are offered depends on the post, and experienced nurses may be recruited at Band 6 or higher.
- Is the NMC test the same for mental health and adult nurses?
No. The Test of Competence is specific to the register part: RNA for adult, RNMH for mental health, RNLD for learning disabilities and RNC for children's nursing. Each has its own CBT and OSCE.
- How much does NMC registration cost for an overseas nurse?
Four separate charges: the qualification assessment, the computer-based test, the practical OSCE, and the registration fee itself. The NMC publishes a worked example of the total for a candidate who needs both tests, and the current amounts are on its joining the register pages.
- Do I have to pass the CBT and OSCE within a set time?
Yes. The NMC requires both parts to be passed within two years of each other. The NMC does not publish an overall processing timescale.
- Do nurses pay the £1,035 (UK Home Office, effective February 6, 2024) health surcharge on a UK visa?
Not on the Health and Care Worker visa, for which all six nursing codes are eligible. The £1,035 (UK Home Office, effective February 6, 2024) per person per year charge applies to other work visas.
Rules last checked on September 14, 2026.
Official sources
- gov.uk: National pay scales for eligible healthcare occupation codes
- gov.uk: Skilled Worker visa: going rates for eligible occupation codes
- gov.uk: Health and Care Worker visa: your job
- gov.uk: Skilled Worker visa: immigration salary list
- Nursing and Midwifery Council
- NHS Employers: national job profiles