Visa Requirements

Visa requirements for medical locum work

The UK welcomes skilled persons applying for medical locum work. To ensure that your application for medical locum work can be successful it is important to note the visa requirements for working in the UK.

What is a Visa?

The visa is a travelling document that allows you to enter borders of a specific country. In this case it is the UK. With a visa you will be allowed entrance unless you have provided false information on the visa or your circumstances have changed from the time you obtained the visa till the time of port entry.

Visa applications

We will assist with the visa application if you apply for medical locum work in the UK through us. You will need to complete the IM2A and related forms where applicable. The forms can be obtained from your nearest British High Commission.

You can obtain a valid visa for the UK on various grounds

It should be noted that you cannot do medical locum work if you have a tourist or holiday visa as this type of visa doesn’t allow for paid or unpaid employment in the UK. If you are on holiday in the UK and want to do medical locum work you should apply for an HSMP visa.

Dual Nationality

You can do medical locum work in the UK if you have dual nationality between the UK and another EU country.

Two Year Working Holiday Visa

The visa will allow entrance and stay in the UK for people from certain countries for a period of two years. It is only available for persons between the age of 17 and 30 years. You will be allowed to work for a period of up to 12 months in the UK in any capacity whether in Trust or Staff Grade. You can apply for this type of visa at the British High Commission in the country where you stay. You must comply with the following:

• Be under the age of 31 when you apply for the visa.
• Intend to stay for a maximum period of two years.
• Have enough funds to support your stay for the first three months and to purchase the return ticket.
• Being married to a person who qualifies for the same type of the visa.
• Being unmarried.
• Don’t have children that are over the age of five or who will become five during your two year stay in the UK.

UK Ancestry

If you have British ancestry where you have British parents or grandparents you will be allowed to apply for medical locum work. People with British ancestry can work in the UK for a period of up to four years. You must be an EU citizen and must be older than 17 years. You will also need enough funds to support you and your dependants without having to rely on public funds. You can find more information from the British High Commission in your country of domicile.

Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP)

The HSMP is a point based programme allowing for highly skilled individuals such as medical professionals to migrate to the UK and take on medical locum work or become self employed. You can change from another visa such as a tourist visa to the HSMP visa if you are already in the UK. The visa differs from the work permit in that it is not a requirement to have a specific job offer in the UK for successful application. The HSMP visa makes it possible to enter the country and take on medical locum work or employment in any career grade level. You can work in private practice or in the NHS with this type of visa. More information is available at www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk.

Contact us for assistance with visa information if you plan to apply for medical locum work through us.