UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI)

UK Visas and Immigration, always shortened to UKVI, sits inside the Home Office. GOV.UK describes it as responsible for making millions of decisions every year about who has the right to visit or stay in the country. When people say "the Home Office decided my visa", the team that actually made the decision is usually UKVI.

For an internationally trained nurse, doctor or allied health professional, UKVI is the body behind almost every immigration step after the job offer: the Health and Care Worker visa or Skilled Worker visa, visas for your family, extensions, and in time indefinite leave to remain. It is separate from your professional regulator, such as the NMC or GMC, which decides whether you can practise.

• Visa applications. You apply online on GOV.UK and UKVI makes the decision. GOV.UK says you will usually get a Health and Care Worker decision within 3 weeks, and a Skilled Worker decision within 3 weeks from outside the UK or 8 weeks from inside.
• Your eVisa and UKVI account. Your permission is now a digital record, not a card. You view it in your UKVI account.
• Proving your status. From the account you generate a share code for an employer's right to work check or a landlord.
• Sponsorship. Your employer must be a licensed sponsor and assigns your certificate of sponsorship through the Home Office sponsorship system.

GOV.UK uses a short questionnaire to send you to the right UKVI team. For help accessing or updating your UKVI account, GOV.UK lists:

1. Webchat for account and eVisa problems, linked from the GOV.UK contact pages.
2. Phone +44 (0)300 790 6268 and select option 3, or +44 (0)203 875 4669 if you cannot dial 0300 numbers.
3. Opening hours, UK time: Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, and Saturday and Sunday 9:30am to 4:30pm. The contact centre is closed on bank holidays.

GOV.UK states that contact centre staff cannot give advice about your personal circumstances. For questions about which visa to apply for, it points you to its own visa checker, and for legal advice you need a regulated immigration adviser.

• Confusing UKVI with your regulator. A visa does not register you, and registration does not give you a visa. You need both.
• Using unofficial websites. Apply and pay only through GOV.UK. Search results often show paid sites that look official.
• Old contact details in your UKVI account. Keep your phone number, email and passport up to date, or you may be locked out when you need a share code.
• Expecting the phone line to fix a pending application. The account helpline deals with access and updates, not decisions.

Our Health and Care Worker visa guide walks through every UKVI step in order, and the visa cost calculator estimates fees for you and your family.