The United Kingdom (UK) has announced changes to visa rules for care givers, health workers, and students, starting from April 9, 2025.
The new visa rules, which was part of the measures to reduce immigration metrics in the country, was laid in Parliament on Wednesday.
The Home Office said care providers who wish to recruit staff from abroad will have to first prove that they have attempted to employ someone already in the country who needs new visa sponsorship.
Under the new measure, employers will have to prioritise hiring foreign carers already living in England before recruiting from overseas.
The Government said it hopes the measures will help “end the reliance on overseas recruitment” and bring down record levels of immigration to Britain.
The minimum salary required for Skilled Worker visas is also being increased. From April it will rise from £23,200 per year to £25,000 (or £12.82 per hour) to reflect the rise in minimum wage.
According to the Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock, he said: “International care workers play a vital role in our social care workforce. We value their contribution and work supporting vulnerable people across the country every day.
He said, “As we crack down on shameful rogue operators exploiting overseas workers here in the UK, we must do all we can to get the victims back into rewarding careers in adult social care.
“Prioritising care workers who are already in the UK will get people back to work reducing our reliance on international recruitment, and make sure our social care sector has the care professionals it needs.”
Also, to clampdown on abuse to the short-term student route, changes to expand powers for caseworkers to refuse visa applications suspected of not being genuine, have also been confirmed.
Students from overseas who are studying English in Britain for between six and 11 months are allowed to apply for the permit. But the Home Office said there are increasing concerns that the route is being abused by people who do not actually intend to study or leave the UK at the end of their course.
Between July 2022 and December 2024, the Government revoked more than 470 sponsor licenses in the care sector.
Figures released earlier this year showed nearly 400,000 fewer people from abroad have applied for UK work or study visas since strict new immigration rules came into force.
Provisional data showed 547,000 visa applications were received between April and December 2024, down from 942,500 in the same period in 2023.
The drop of 395,100, or 42 per cent, has been driven by sharp falls in the number of overseas students and foreign care workers applying to come to Britain.
Applications to come on a health and care worker visa fell by a much steeper 79 per cent, from 299,800 in April to December 2023 compared with 63,800 in the same period last year.
