Can you work as a self-employed carer on a Health and Care Worker visa?

The sentence that matters most for care work is this one. On 22 September 2026, the gov.uk page on taking on additional work said: "You can also work up to 20 hours a week in another job or for your own business, as long as you're still doing the job you're being sponsored for." The page then says the work must be a higher skilled job, a job on the immigration salary list, or a job in the same sector and at the same level as your main job. It adds that you "can only do additional work in a job listed as 'medium skilled'" if you got the certificate of sponsorship for your first Tier 2 or Health and Care Worker visa before 22 July 2025, and you have continually held one or more Health and Care Worker visas since then.

gov.uk's page on which jobs qualify for the visa lists care workers and home carers (occupation code 6135) and senior care workers (6136) as medium skilled occupation codes. So for care work, the date on your first certificate of sponsorship, and an unbroken run of Health and Care Worker visas since, are part of the test gov.uk describes. Which occupation code a particular piece of self-employed work falls under, and whether "the same sector and at the same level as your main job" describes it, are questions about your own case, and this page does not answer them.

If you are new to working for yourself in care, Carer resources collects the guides on tax, checks and finding clients, and self-employed or agency? sets out how the two ways of working differ.

Updating your visaSection titled Updating%20your%20visa

gov.uk says you may need to apply to update your visa to do additional paid work, and that this "will depend on the type of work you're doing and the hours you're going to work". You must update it if the additional job is more than 20 hours a week. The gov.uk page on updating your visa describes that application as needing a new certificate of sponsorship from your second employer, and a letter explaining that you want to change your current permission to stay. It does not describe how that works for somebody who would be self-employed rather than employed, which is one more reason to get advice before you start rather than after.

Overtime is treated differently. gov.uk says there is no limit on overtime in the job you are sponsored for, and you do not need to update your visa for it, or for bank shifts for an NHS sponsor.

Sources: gov.uk's news story of 11 May 2025, the explanatory memorandum to HC 997, and the Health and Care Worker pages on your job and switching, all read on 22 September 2026. How policy for the sector reached this point is covered in visas and the care sector, and it is not repeated here.

Two more points from the same sources matter to a carer already in the UK. First, gov.uk says that if you are a care worker or senior care worker working in England, your sponsor must be registered with the Care Quality Commission, and that applies again if you change employer. Second, the Immigration Rules list of eligible jobs (Appendix Skilled Occupations) notes against the care worker code that "private households or individuals (other than sole traders sponsoring someone to work for their business) cannot sponsor Skilled Worker applicants". A family you care for privately cannot be your sponsor.

None of this changes what the additional work rule says. It does mean the date of your first certificate of sponsorship, and whether you have held the visa without a break since, are worth finding out now if you do not already know them.

gov.uk's page on what happens if your visa sponsor loses their licence describes the 60 days as time to make a new visa application, and tells you to check your eligibility for visas. The same news story said workers "who need to switch employers following a sponsor licence revocation" would be able to change sponsors. When you change employer, gov.uk says you apply to update your visa with a new certificate of sponsorship, and in England the new employer must be registered with the Care Quality Commission. If you are in this position, speak to a regulated immigration adviser as soon as you can.

Help in EnglandSection titled Help%20in%20England

The Department of Health and Social Care has published a support offer for international adult social care workers whose employer's sponsor licence has been revoked. The version on gov.uk, last updated on 12 May 2025, describes regional partnerships that help with understanding your visa status and employment rights, finding a new employer who can sponsor your visa, and financial and wellbeing support. It lists an email address for each region, and asks you to write to the one where you live with your name, address, contact details and the name of the provider sponsoring your visa. It applies to England only, and it describes funding for 2024 to 2025, so ask your region whether the support is still running.

Partners and children of care workersSection titled Partners%20and%20children%20of%20care%20workers

Whether a care worker can have a partner or children in the UK as dependants at all is limited. On the partner and children page, gov.uk says one of four things must be true for a care worker or senior care worker: you have been continually employed in the UK as a care worker or senior care worker, on a Health and Care Worker or Skilled Worker visa, since before 11 March 2024; you are applying for a child born in the UK; you are the only living parent responsible for your child; or your child's other parent is also sponsored as a care worker or senior care worker. It also says that if you switch to this visa as a care worker or senior care worker, your partner or children will not be able to switch as your dependants.

If you are the partner, gov.uk's guide page says you can work, except as a sportsperson or coach, and the rules add that this includes self-employment. Your own eVisa will list your conditions.

Students and graduatesSection titled Students%20and%20graduates

The Student visa page lists "be self-employed" among the things you cannot do. The Graduate visa page lists "be self-employed" among the things you can. gov.uk says a Graduate visa lasts 2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026, and 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027, and that it cannot be extended, although you may be able to switch to a different visa.

Settled status and indefinite leave to remainSection titled Settled%20status%20and%20indefinite%20leave%20to%20remain

gov.uk says people with settled or pre-settled status will be able to work in the UK, and that indefinite leave to remain gives the right to live, work and study here for as long as you like. Neither page sets a condition on the kind of work. If you hold either status and are thinking about working for yourself, the questions you face are about tax and running a small business rather than immigration. How to become a self-employed carer and how to pay tax as a self-employed carer cover those.

1. 1

   Read the conditions on your eVisa

   Free

   gov.uk says an eVisa is a digital record of your immigration status and its conditions, for example whether you are allowed to work or study in the UK. You see it by signing in to your UKVI account.
2. 2

   Read the gov.uk page for your visa

   Free

   For a Health and Care Worker visa, that is the page on taking on additional work. Note the date you read it, because the rules change.
3. 3

   Ask a regulated adviser if anything is unclear

   gov.uk says all immigration advisers must be registered with the Immigration Advice Authority or be a member of an approved professional body. Check that an adviser is registered, and whether they charge a fee, before you use them.
4. 4

   Prove your right to work with a share code

   Free

   If you are not a British or Irish citizen, you prove your right to work with a share code from gov.uk. It shows the types of job you are allowed to do in the UK and how long you can work for.

The Immigration Advice Authority was previously called the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC), and gov.uk now lists the OISC as "now called Immigration Advice Authority". Its adviser finder is linked from gov.uk's page on finding an immigration adviser. That page explains that advisers are registered at three levels and may only advise on what their level allows, that only a level 3 adviser can appear for you at an immigration tribunal, and that "you cannot get your money back if an adviser is not regulated". It also explains how to find a solicitor who gives immigration advice through the Law Society.

When you take advice, bring the facts the rule turns on: the date on the certificate of sponsorship for your first Tier 2 or Health and Care Worker visa, whether you have held the visa without a break since, your sponsored job and its hours, and the self-employed work you have in mind, with its hours.

How your right to work is shownSection titled How%20your%20right%20to%20work%20is%20shown

PrimeCarers checks the right to work of every carer who registers. If you are not a British or Irish citizen, that means a right to work share code, which gov.uk says lets the person checking see the types of job you are allowed to do and how long you can work in the UK for. Right to work checks for carers explains how the share code and passport routes work. The check shows your permission as the Home Office holds it. It is not advice about your visa, and it does not replace reading your own conditions.

If your status allows self-employed work, you can register as a carer on PrimeCarers, set your own rate and choose who you work with. If you would like to look first, see the carer jobs open near you, and what carers earn on PrimeCarers sets out our fee.