From 11 March and onwards, many changes have taken effect for the Health and Care worker visas in the UK. The government already announced that from this date, main applicants will not be able to bring their dependants to the country. Before, they were allowed to bring family members with them to the UK. The new changes will affect the care workers from the occupation codes SOC 6145 and 6146.
Following are the major changes in the UK carer visa:
- Health and Care workers cannot bring or sponsor their family members to the UK from 11 March 2024,
- The new salary threshold for skilled worker visas is not implemented for the new Carers applying for a work visa (the minimum salary threshold has been increased from £26,200 to £38,700 from 4 April 2024 for skilled worker visas),
- Dependants of health and care workers present in the UK before 11 March 2024 will not be affected by new rules,
- The health and care worker visa occupation will remain a part of the “Shortage Occupation List”,
- English care providers (companies) must be registered with the Care Quality Commission.
The UK government decided on many immigration rules changes which basically will decrease net migration difference. The newly announced salary increase will not be implemented on the Care workers. They will be recruited by the Care sector employers on the old minimum salary threshold.
On 19 February, Home Secretary James Cleverly presented the changes to the immigration rules to the UK Parliament on Monday 19 February.
The United Kingdom has seen a massive rise in the care workers numbers compared with the past. Till September 2023, about 101,000 care workers got a work visa and they brought in 120,000 dependants with them to the country. The UK issued 47,194 carer visas in 2022 which almost tripled in 2023 to 121,290. The UK still needs 122,000 more care workers by 20230. This means the numbers may slow down in terms of visas awarded each year in the future. According to reports, only 25% of the dependants of the main carer applicants work.
The UK Government wants to cut immigration numbers, there would be 300,000 less immigrants in the current year to cut done the net migration difference reports visa-guru.com.