The Skilled Worker visa is the immigration route that lets an overseas dentist live and work in the UK for a sponsoring employer. It replaced the old Tier 2 (General) visa. To apply, the dentist needs a Certificate of Sponsorship from a licensed practice, which is where the sponsor licence comes in.
The application has to be accurate, the timing has to line up with GDC and NHS registration, and the dentist must meet the eligibility and right-to-work requirements throughout. Dentello manages all of it, end to end.
Get the timing wrong and a dentist either arrives too early, before their NHS performer number, and is stuck doing private work the practice may not need, or arrives too late, after the performer number is ready, and that NHS revenue is simply lost. Both cost money.
The dentist arrives before their NHS performer number and is limited to private work, sitting idle on the NHS side the practice is counting on.
The performer number is ready but the dentist has not arrived, so weeks of NHS revenue are missed before they can start treating patients.
Because Dentello runs the visa application, we control the timing. We line the dentist's arrival up with their performer number, so they walk in ready to treat NHS patients on day one. That is the most efficient outcome for the clinic.
The visa is where overseas hires most often stall. Dentello manages it end to end and in parallel with registration and indemnity, so the dentist arrives cleared to work and you never have to become an immigration expert.
An overseas dentist cannot start until their Skilled Worker visa is in place. Managing the pathway protects:
Approve the dentist and confirm the role.
Coordinates the administrative visa pathway between practice, candidate and authorised advisers, and tracks each stage through to first day.
It is the route that replaced the Tier 2 (General) visa. It is the main way an overseas dentist can be sponsored to live and work in the UK for a licensed employer.
Yes. The practice needs a Skilled Worker sponsor licence first, which lets it assign the Certificate of Sponsorship the dentist needs to apply. Dentello handles both, so they line up.
Timelines vary with the dentist's circumstances and Home Office processing. Because we run the visa in parallel with GDC and NHS registration rather than after it, the overall time to a working dentist is far shorter than doing each step in turn.
Because the timing of arrival directly affects revenue. Arrive too early and the dentist is stuck on private work before their NHS performer number is ready; arrive too late and NHS revenue is lost while the practice waits. Since we run the visa application ourselves, we can time the dentist's arrival to line up with their performer number, so they start treating NHS patients from day one. That is the most efficient outcome for the clinic.
Dentello coordinates and manages the visa process for you and the dentist. Where regulated immigration advice is required, it is provided by appropriately authorised advisers.
Yes. We confirm right to work, alongside GDC and NHS registration and indemnity, before the dentist treats a single patient.
Talk to Dentello about bringing an overseas dentist to your practice. We will manage the visa and everything around it. No commitment, no upfront fee.
No commitment required · Response within 24 hours · No upfront fee under any model