The UK will suspend care worker visas as part of a broad tightening of immigration rules, outlined in a White Paper released on May 12.
The new policy is expected to encourage UK employers to boost domestic training and end the reliance on international recruitment.
As a result, the UK government announced that they would close social care visas to new applications from abroad. “For a transition period until 2028 we will permit visa extensions and in-country switching for those already here,” the government announced on its website.
Requirements for study visas have also been tightened. Sponsoring institutions must meet certain criteria to recruit international students. Sponsors who are close to failing their sponsor duties will be placed on an action plan designed to improve their compliance. Limits will be imposed on the number of new international students they can recruit under these plans. The length of time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies has been reduced to 18 months.
Other changes include raising the skill threshold for work visas to graduate level or higher and increasing salary requirements. The immigration salary list – which provided certain exemptions to salary thresholds – will be scrapped.
