Hundreds of care workers gathered outside the Home Office on 26 April after the trade-union UNISON intensified its campaign against the government’s plan to treble the qualifying period for settlement from five to 15 years for overseas carers. Speaking to Care Home Professional, UNISON’s Greater London regional secretary Tabitha Moyo said the policy would “pull the rug from under thousands of key workers who kept the NHS and social-care system running through the pandemic”.
She warned that many migrants would simply leave the UK rather than live on temporary visas for a decade-and-a-half, draining an already fragile workforce where vacancy rates hover above 13 per cent.
At this point, both employers and employees may benefit from external expertise. VisaHQ provides practical support with UK immigration matters—covering everything from Skilled Worker to Health & Care visas—by offering real-time guidance, document checklists and application tracking. Their services can help organisations and individual carers navigate sudden rule changes like the proposed 15-year settlement route. Find details at https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/
The settlement change forms part of the Home Office’s wider “Earned Settlement” overhaul, which scraps the automatic five-year route to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in favour of a contribution-based system that rewards higher earnings, tax receipts and English-language proficiency. Ministers argue the reforms will “drive up wages and productivity”, yet industry bodies representing private-sector care providers say margins are too thin to raise salaries to the new Skilled Worker thresholds introduced on 8 April.
![Unions Warn Care Visa Reforms Could Deepen London’s Staffing Crisis]()
For global-mobility managers this presents an urgent retention risk. Around 56,000 Health and Care visas were granted last year—fully one-third of all sponsored work visas.
If even a fraction of those permit-holders exit the UK, employers face soaring agency bills, rota gaps and potential contractual penalties from the NHS. Organisations that second staff into the UK for short projects could also find that key personnel are re-assigned to other markets offering faster residency rights. HR departments should audit their sponsorship records, model worst-case attrition scenarios and accelerate existing ILR applications where workers meet the old five-year rule before transitional protections expire.
Employers may also lobby for a sector-wide “care mobility visa”, mooted by UNISON, which would allow staff to switch sponsors without restarting the settlement clock—mirroring the portability already available to tech workers in Tier 2 shortage-occupation roles.
In the short term, companies must brace for compliance inspections. Sponsor guidance updated in March gives the Home Office new powers to revoke licences where sponsors cannot prove genuine vacancies and fair pay. Proactive file reviews, refreshed right-to-work training and employee communication explaining the path—however longer—to permanent residence will all be essential mitigation steps.
She warned that many migrants would simply leave the UK rather than live on temporary visas for a decade-and-a-half, draining an already fragile workforce where vacancy rates hover above 13 per cent.
At this point, both employers and employees may benefit from external expertise. VisaHQ provides practical support with UK immigration matters—covering everything from Skilled Worker to Health & Care visas—by offering real-time guidance, document checklists and application tracking. Their services can help organisations and individual carers navigate sudden rule changes like the proposed 15-year settlement route. Find details at https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/
The settlement change forms part of the Home Office’s wider “Earned Settlement” overhaul, which scraps the automatic five-year route to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in favour of a contribution-based system that rewards higher earnings, tax receipts and English-language proficiency. Ministers argue the reforms will “drive up wages and productivity”, yet industry bodies representing private-sector care providers say margins are too thin to raise salaries to the new Skilled Worker thresholds introduced on 8 April.
For global-mobility managers this presents an urgent retention risk. Around 56,000 Health and Care visas were granted last year—fully one-third of all sponsored work visas.
If even a fraction of those permit-holders exit the UK, employers face soaring agency bills, rota gaps and potential contractual penalties from the NHS. Organisations that second staff into the UK for short projects could also find that key personnel are re-assigned to other markets offering faster residency rights. HR departments should audit their sponsorship records, model worst-case attrition scenarios and accelerate existing ILR applications where workers meet the old five-year rule before transitional protections expire.
Employers may also lobby for a sector-wide “care mobility visa”, mooted by UNISON, which would allow staff to switch sponsors without restarting the settlement clock—mirroring the portability already available to tech workers in Tier 2 shortage-occupation roles.
In the short term, companies must brace for compliance inspections. Sponsor guidance updated in March gives the Home Office new powers to revoke licences where sponsors cannot prove genuine vacancies and fair pay. Proactive file reviews, refreshed right-to-work training and employee communication explaining the path—however longer—to permanent residence will all be essential mitigation steps.
