Skilled Worker Visa changes cause more immigration headaches for care home providers

On 19 February 2024, the Home Secretary, James Cleverly laid Statement of Changes before Parliament.

Included were Skilled Worker visa changes which will likely make it much harder for care home operators to recruit migrants, at a time when they are often already facing difficulty recruiting for care workers at all levels.

Whilst the Statement of Changes was recently published, as with convention, they don’t take effect until 21 days later. This means that new rules regarding Skilled Worker visa changes will only apply from 11 March 2024.

There are two key changes being made, both of which only apply under the sponsored Skilled Worker visa category, specifically for those being sponsored under SOC codes 6145 (care workers) and 6146 (senior care workers).

The first of the Skilled Worker visa changes is specific to England only. There will be a requirement for care homes to hold registration with the Care Quality Commission, and to be carrying on a regulated activity, if the working location for the sponsored (senior) care worker will be in England.

This requirement does not apply where the working location will be in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland, and there is no requirement to hold equivalent registration in the rest of the UK.

There will be transitional provisions in place. This means that this new requirement will only apply in England, where a migrant is applying for their first Skilled Worker visa as a (senior) care worker or if they are currently sponsored, but cannot meet all of the following criteria, on/ after 11 March 2024:

• the migrant is applying to extend their Skilled Worker visa;
• the migrant was sponsored under either SOC code 6145 or 6146 before the new rules apply;
• the migrant has continuously had a Skilled Worker visa; and
• the migrant is applying to continue working with the same sponsor.

As such, if a migrant is changing visa category and/or is changing employer, then they cannot benefit from the transitional provisions, and the new Skilled Worker visa changes will apply to them.

The second of the Skilled Worker visa changes applies uniformly across the whole of the UK. It relates to the ability of the main applicant, the sponsored (senior) care worker, to bring or have their family join them in the UK.

The dependant family members of the main applicant will not be able to apply for Dependant visas, unless the main applicant:

• submitted a Skilled Worker visa application before/on 10 March 2024, to be sponsored as a (senior) care worker;
• was successful with that visa application; and
• has continued to hold the Skilled Worker visa under SOC code 6145 or 6146.

As such, (senior) care workers applying for their first Skilled Worker visa on/ after 11 March 2024 and those who already hold a Skilled Worker visa but can’t meet all of the above requirements, will not be able to bring their dependant partner or children to the UK, or for those dependants already here in the UK, they will not be able to extend their visa.

The impact of the second of these Skilled Worker visa changes is much greater, and will likely put off potential new recruits from applying for these roles, as the ability for them to bring/ keep their family will be impacted. In turn, this will likely mean that care home providers will find it much more difficult to fill these roles, when there is already great difficulty in doing so under the current rules.

Where you are considering offering sponsorship to someone to work as a (senior) care worker, it will be prudent to act quickly, before these new Skilled Worker visa changes come into force.

Our experienced team of immigration lawyers are on hand to help you navigate the complex UK immigration system. We’d be happy to have a discussion with any individuals or health/ social care organisations looking for immigration advice, especially those who are considering their options before the new UK immigration rules come into effect.