On 4 December 2024 the Home Secretary revealed changes to UK immigration policy as part of a plan to cut net migration by an estimated 300,000 per year.
The Proposed Changes to Visa Requirements
The proposed change causing the most concern is the increase to the salary threshold for the Skilled Worker visa from £26,200 to £38,700 starting Spring 2024 – nearly a 50% increase.
Whilst the Health and Care Worker Visa forms part of the Skilled Worker route, the Government has not announced a minimum salary threshold increase for those applying for this visa. However, it should be noted that not every health and care role is covered by this visa.
There are also plans to tighten the application requirements due to the increase in applications for Dependent Visas from their relatives.
Data has shown that as of September 2023, 101,000 Health and Care Worker Visas were granted with an estimated 120,000 Dependent Visas granted to family members of Health and Care Worker Visa applicants. It is unclear how many of those were children requiring school placements as opposed to spouses or a partner, who may currently be brought over as dependents on this visa.
The planned changes include:
- Stopping Health and Care Worker Visa applicants bringing their dependents;
- Only allowing care providers undertaking activities regulated by the Care Quality Commission to sponsor Health and Care Worker Visa applicants; and
- Removal of the shortage occupation list and replacing this with a slimmed down ‘immigration salary list’ which would in effect maintain the threshold discounts
It is estimated that these changes will at 20% to the costs of care overall, stretching tight budgets even thinner in an already underfunded sector.
Impact on Providers and the Current Worker Shortage Crisis
According to the Government, the Health and Care Worker Visa was meant to be a temporary measure in order to address the worker shortage crisis that was brought to a head during the pandemic.
Many providers in the healthcare sector are not recruiting from overseas by choice. For them, it is necessary to meet the growing needs of the sector, especially where they cannot recruit enough staff from within the UK.
This route was especially attractive to foreign workers because it was a potential path to citizenship provided they were able to remain in the country and meet the requirements for the necessary time period.
However, the announcement of the changes will not come as welcome news to anyone.
Nicola Ranger, Royal College of Nursing chief nurse Professor has stated:
“Anything that limits or deters nursing staff from coming to the UK – including any changes to the shortage occupations list – will only add to the dire workforce crisis in the health and care sector…Faced with such significant staff shortages, we must be open to ethical international recruitment while significantly increasing investment in domestic nursing education.”
On a more positive note, it does not appear that employers who were prepared to pay within the salary requirements before will have to suddenly come up with 70% more funding just to meet the salary thresholds for these workers.
This means the overall anticipated costs to an employer considering this route will not change much even with the proposed changes to the visas.
Further, some of the occupation codes covered by the Health and Care Worker Visa are currently on the shortage occupation list, including care workers, home carers, and senior care workers, which means that employers are able to pay 80% of the going rate for the role (i.e. 20% less than the required threshold) in order to bring these workers over. It would be hoped that given the current crisis the sector is facing the Home Office would not further reduce the limited roles that are currently on this list from this benefit.
According to Professor Ranger, “The new salary threshold is higher than an average nurse’s wage. If they change nursing’s place on the exemption list, this will hit hard on the NHS.”
However, limiting who can sponsor and removing the option to bring a dependent over will likely have an impact on those who are willing to consider this route for coming to the UK.
This will in turn, negatively impact an already shrining workforce in the health and social care sector.
Christina McAnea, general secretary of public services union Unison, along with Professor Ranger, has dubbed the government cruel and stated that these proposals “benefit no one”.
What Can Providers Do?
The following is suggested for health and care providers seriously considering this route:
- Review 2024 recruitment needs and sponsor workers sooner rather than later;
- Look at options on how to retain current sponsored employees and offer immigration support through this transition; and
- Review sponsor license compliance and/or requirements to minimise risks.
Conclusion
Whilst this announcement may seem bleak, there are still preventative measures that any provider can take. As a starting point, legal advice is always recommended.
For further information on this topic please have a look at the article I authored, which is the first in a series of articles which detail the requirements for both sponsors and employees who are looking into this route for recruitment and provide insights as and when these proposed changes take place.
If you have any questions about the proposed changes to the Health and Care Worker Visa and how this may impact your business, please reach out to Ridouts team of specialist solicitors at info@ridout-law.com or call us on 020 7317 0340.
