The Health and Care Worker visa route was launched in 2022 by the Home Office to help address the skills shortage within the UK’s health and social care sector. This route offers lower salary requirements, reduced visa fees (application fee of £284 versus standard of £719), an exemption from paying the Immigration Health Surcharge (currently >£5kper per adult for a five-year visa), the support of a dedicated Home Office application processing team and in some instances, the ability to bring dependant family members to the UK.
There have been over 255,000 applications since this route was introduced. With the end of Free Movement with the EU, care organisations responded positively to this new route as it alleviated challenges filling roles that had previously been left vacant, with migration being integral to keeping the health and social care services running.
However, despite the general positivity regarding this route, in recent weeks there has been a lot of media coverage regarding care agencies and care homes losing their sponsor licences for non-compliance with the UK’s Immigration Rules, resulting in hundreds of sponsored migrants being at risk of losing their immigration status in the UK.
The previous Conservative Government put a sharp focus on international health and care workers to reduce over-reliance on international workers and to stamp out industry malpractice. This has been sustained by the new Labour government since their election in July.
Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has stated that Labour would back calls by the Royal College of Nursing to undertake a full investigation into the experience of those who have stated that they have been left in the UK with debts of up to £20,000 with little or no work that was promised to them.
As a result of these recent issues and several investigations being carried out surrounding the alleged abuse of the route, as of 11 March 2024, the Home Office has made it a mandatory condition for health and care providers in England to be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) before they can sponsor new care workers and senior care workers under Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) codes 6135 and 6136 under a Health and Care worker visa. The good news is that existing sponsored workers employed in these roles before 11 March 2024 will not be impacted by this change. They can continue to work for their employer and extend their visa permission, even if their employer has not registered with CQC.
Other recent changes to the Health and Care Worker route include the increase in minimum salaries that need to be paid to workers under this subcategory. As of 4 April 2024, all new roles require a minimum salary of £23,200 per annum (previously £20,960) or the minimum salary payable for their role as per the NHS national pay scales – whichever is higher – based on a 37.5 hour working week. Roles which are not on the national pay scales will need to meet a general salary threshold of £29,000 per annum, or the going rate – whichever is higher – based on a 37.5 hour or 40 hour working week, depending on which table the individual in question falls within. These salary changes apply to both new visa applicants and existing visa applicants looking to extend their visa.
The changes to the minimum salaries payable mean that employers must keep track of their existing sponsored workers’ visa expiries and salary details to ensure that they meet the requirements at the point of looking to extend their permission. If it only transpires at the last minute that the employee’s salary does not meet the new higher requirements it can cause disruption to the business as it will not be able to retain employees who will not be paid the minimum salary required to extend their visa.
Individuals working for organisations on standard Skilled Worker visas, not within the Health and Care subcategory, have also been subject to salary changes as of 4 April 2024. The minimum salary payable for all new visa applicants to the Skilled Worker visa category post 4 April 2024 has increased from £26,200 per annum to £38,700 per annum, or the going rate for their SOC code – whichever is higher. Those who already held a Skilled Worker visa prior to 4 April 2024 must earn a minimum salary of £29,000 per annum or the new recently increased going rate for their SOC code – whichever is higher – based on a 37.5 hour working week.
Consequently, employers now need to be aware of who has come to the UK to begin working for them and when, which visa rules apply (post 4 April 2024 or pre 4 April 2024) and what salary uplifts may or may not be required in order for a visa application to meet the mandatory eligibility criteria.
These changes, alongside the newly introduced prohibition on care workers bringing accompanying dependent family members to the UK has led to a plummet in visa applications, with Health and Care work visas down 81% year on year to 2024 and accompanying dependent family visa application down 66%.
In light of all the recent media attention and the heightened consequences for employing illegal workers tripling from £20,000 per illegal worker to £60,000 per illegal worker as of 22 January 2024, it has become more important than ever for organisations who hold a sponsorship licence to be aware of their sponsor obligations and record keeping requirements, and the repercussions of not following these. The Home Office has also been carrying out an increased number of audits within the care sector, including both announced and unannounced visits.
Organisations found not be complying with their sponsor duties have found themselves subject to revocation of their sponsorship licence, therefore putting at risk the visa status of all their sponsored workers. Any sponsored workers who fall victim to losing their visa sponsorship will have only 60 days to find a new employer willing to sponsor them (and to file an application to remain) or they must leave the UK.
Not only does this cause immense disruption to the day-to-day running of these organisations, but it also causes distress to affected visa holders and their family members.
Employers in the care sector should also note that any investigations for non-compliance on issues of national minimum wage compliance and modern slavery will also trigger an immigration sponsor licence review – the care sector has reportedly been rife with instances of migrant workers subject to illegal debt bondage via unscrupulous overseas recruitment agents, and such investigations are triggering wholescale reviews of organisations recruiting overseas workers.
Our Immigration Team is now offering to undertake a ‘mock audit’ service for all interested organisations, whereby they will carry out a review of your HR records in relation to both sponsored and non-sponsored workers, to ensure that you are complying with your record keeping duties and have carried out the right to work checks in the compliant format. A traffic light report will be provided to you at the end of the audit so that you can see which areas might require improvements. Going through a mock audit means that your organisation is prepared in the event that the Home Office does carry out a sponsor compliance audit.
Please contact us if you would like to discuss this offering further and how our Immigration Team can assist you.
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The content of this article is for general information only. It is not, and should not be taken as, legal advice. If you require any further information in relation to this article please contact the author in the first instance. Law covered as at August 2024.