The United Kingdom authority has formally halted providing new Health and Care worker visas to international care employees, starting from July 22, 2025.
The action highlights a major policy adjustment as part of actions to decrease relocation, mainly in lower-income industries.
The guidelines are planned to promote local jobs and deal with mismanagement in the visa sponsorship system.
Hence, care sector stakeholders debate whether it could increase workforce deficits, which are already impacting social care providers across the United Kingdom.
According to the report, the action intends to prioritise UK-based employees and decrease misuse of the visa structure. Hence, critics warn that the instant suspension may heighten existing staffing deficits in the nation’s already strained social care industry.
Hence, no new foreign candidates will be approved under this visa classification. Once the present visa period expires, choices for renewal or changing to another care-associated visa may no longer be available.
Care employees under SOC Code 6145 were initially on the United Kingdom’s Shortage Occupation List, which permitted simpler access via lower income thresholds, decreased charges, and quicker processing. However, with the current guideline modification, these advantages no longer apply.
ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS
The Home Office has verified that international citizens already living in the United Kingdom on an authentic Health and Care Worker visa will not be removed. The visa holders may proceed in their present jobs until the visa expires.
They may also remain qualified to change employers if the new position remains authentic under their existing visa requirements, prolong their present visa under transitional arrangements, or keep the dependent support awarded before the modification.
- Migrants looking forward to staying in the United Kingdom after their care visa expires are required to investigate optional lawful routes, like changing to a Skilled Worker visa in a qualified profession, applying for a student visa to continue, or seeking residency after five years of skilled work.
- The United Kingdom authority, hence, still allows requests under specific health industry positions, like enrolled nursing or senior medical roles, which are eligible under the Skilled Worker visa pathway.
In some conditions, potential migrants may contemplate registering for United Kingdom-based education courses, after which they could apply for post-study work choices or transition to other demand-driven employment industries like Information Technology, construction, or engineering.
The current modifications come amid increasing political pressure to regulate immigration numbers, mostly in response to recent information indicating a rise in international employee access in low-income professions.
