Care providers in England looking to hire care workers from overseas will now have to prove they’ve tried to recruit international workers already in the UK before making fresh overseas offers. This new rule takes effect on April 9, and is part of the UK government’s broader efforts to prevent visa misuse and worker exploitation in the care sector.
If a care worker is already in the UK and in need of a new sponsor, employers are now expected to consider them first. Only after failing to find a suitable candidate locally can they move on to hire directly from abroad.
This change hasn’t come out of the blue. The government has been cracking down on care homes that bend or break the rules. Between July 2022 and December 2024, more than 470 sponsor licences in the care sector were revoked. These are the licences that allow care homes to sponsor international staff.
Since October 2020, more than 39,000 workers have been linked to those revoked licences—many of them left in limbo, jobless and stuck. With the new rule, the government is trying to make sure those already in the UK get a better chance to stay legally employed.
Although it’s never been allowed, many care workers have ended up paying lakhs to agents or employers to secure a job in the UK.
The government has now made it very clear: no employer can charge a worker for their own sponsorship.
This rule is being pushed harder now, after repeated reports of workers arriving in the UK only to find there’s no actual job waiting.
One case reported by the BBC tells the story of a man from Kerala who paid ₹15 lakh to get a care job for his wife in the UK. The job offer came through a local agent and a care home in Bradford. But once the couple arrived, work was minimal. Just three days of paid work, followed by unpaid training.
With no steady income and no proper role, they returned to India within months—deeply in debt and unsure if they’d ever recover. Others who spoke to the BBC reported similar experiences with the same care provider. That company’s sponsorship licence has since been revoked.
The government says it’s taking a harder line against employers who abuse the system. Companies that are caught repeatedly breaking immigration or employment rules could be barred from sponsoring overseas workers at all.
This is aimed at preventing the cycle of fake job offers, worker exploitation, and visa system misuse that has plagued the sector in recent years.
From April 9, the minimum salary for care workers on the Skilled Worker visa will rise from £23,200 to £25,000 a year—or from £11.90 to £12.82 an hour, based on a 37.5-hour working week. Other roles in health and education—like doctors, nurses, and teachers—will also see new minimum salary levels in line with national pay scales.
The idea is to ensure international staff are being paid fairly, and not undercutting local wages.
The changes don’t stop with care jobs. The government is also tightening checks on short-term student visas, which allow people to study English in the UK for up to 11 months. There’s growing concern that some are using the route to enter the UK without real plans to study or leave once the course ends.
Officials are also reviewing the Student and Graduate visa routes to plug potential gaps in enforcement.
