UK to End Overseas Recruitment of Care Workers Amid Sweeping Immigration Reforms

The UK government is set to ban the recruitment of care workers directly from overseas as part of a sweeping overhaul of the country's immigration system aimed at slashing net migration figures.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed that the Health and Care Worker visa will be restructured to “prevent” it from being used as a backdoor for recruiting foreign workers into non-existent or underpaid roles. The move comes amid growing concerns over widespread abuse of the visa route and an overreliance on low-wage foreign labour in the care sector.

Under the new rules, employers will no longer be able to bring in care workers from abroad. Instead, they must recruit from a pool of thousands of migrants already in the UK who previously entered on care visas but lost their jobs due to sponsorship failures or exploitation.

“This change is about restoring integrity to our immigration system and ensuring care roles are filled by those already here or by properly trained domestic workers,” said Cooper.

The announcement precedes the publication of the long-awaited Immigration White Paper, which will outline further changes including:

• Raising the salary threshold for skilled worker visas to £38,700

• Reducing the number of roles on the Shortage Occupation List

• Tightening English language requirements for migrant workers

• Aiming to cut the issuance of low-skilled visas by 50,000 annually

The reforms are part of a broader government push to reduce net migration, which reached 728,000 in 2024 — a politically sensitive figure that has triggered widespread public and parliamentary backlash.

However, care sector leaders have warned that the reforms could have damaging consequences. With thousands of unfilled roles in elderly and disability care, many fear the policy could worsen existing staff shortages and compromise service delivery.

“This is a crushing blow for care providers who are already struggling to meet demand,” said a spokesperson for the National Care Forum. “The government must now urgently invest in domestic training and make care jobs more attractive to UK residents.”

The full details of the Immigration White Paper are expected later today, laying the groundwork for one of the most significant shifts in UK migration policy in over a decade