The UK government approves new visa rules that impact students, foreign workers, and care providers to prioritize local hiring over immigration.
Measures introduced in Parliament on Wednesday mandate that care providers that want to hire foreign workers must first show that they are attempting to hire foreign workers who are currently in England and need new visa sponsorship starting on April 9.
According to the Home Office, these adjustments are intended to reduce reliance on foreign hiring while guaranteeing equitable opportunities for care providers who are currently employed in the UK.
In order to keep up with the growing minimum wage, the annual salary requirement for skilled worker visas will likewise rise from £23,200 to £25,000 (or £12.82 per hour).
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Stephen Kinnock, Minister of State for Care, recognized the vital role that foreign carers play in helping the nation’s most vulnerable citizens.
“We must make sure that victims of exploitation can resume their careers in adult social care while we crack down on rogue operators who take advantage of foreign workers,” he stated.
He emphasized that giving priority to care workers who are already in the UK would enhance the workforce in this area and lessen the need for foreign hiring.
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In response to worries about systemic exploitation, the government is also strengthening rules on temporary student visas.
This visa is available to foreign nationals studying English in the UK for six to eleven months; however, officials are worried that some applicants may not actually want to study or depart the country after finishing their courses.
In an effort to stop the route from being abused, the Home Office will give caseworkers more authority to deny suspect visa applications.
These modifications come after tougher enforcement actions against companies that break immigration laws.
Due to continuous violations, the government terminated approximately 470 sponsor licenses in the care industry between July 2022 and December 2024. Employing foreign labor is now prohibited for businesses that violate immigration laws.
Seema Malhotra, the minister of migration and citizenship, reiterated the government’s dedication to preventing the exploitation of foreign workers.
“We’ve already taken steps to make sure employers can’t break the law or unfairly charge foreign workers,” she said.
“We are now taking it a step further by mandating that care providers hire foreign workers who are already in the UK before hiring them from overseas.”
In light of the new restrictions, recent data shows a sharp decline in visa applications.
547,000 work and study visa applications were submitted to the UK between April and December 2024, a 42% decrease from 942,500 applications during the same period in 2023.
The biggest drop was in health and care worker visa applications, which fell 79% from 299,800 in 2023 to just 63,800 in 2024.
Ref: Vanguard News
This post was last modified on March 14, 2025 9:52 am