New changes to the immigration rules for Care Providers and Workers under the Skilled Worker route (starting from 9 April 2025)

New changes to the immigration rules for Care Providers

These changes, which impact both care providers and international recruits, and additional recruitment requirements for sponsors.

Key Changes Affecting Care Worker Sponsorship

New Recruitment Requirements for Sponsors: Care providers in England looking to sponsor new Care Workers (SOC 6135) and Senior Care Workers (SOC 6136) must now prove they have attempted to recruit from a pool of Skilled Workers already in the UK.

Specifically, they must have considered candidates who:

• Were last sponsored in an eligible care-related occupation.
• Require new sponsorship due to their previous sponsor losing its licence, failing to provide sufficient work, or being identified by regional partnerships as needing assistance in securing employment.

Sponsors must obtain confirmation from regional or sub-regional partnerships that these requirements have been met before issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) or if someone switching from a different occupation code or visa category, they must meet the new requirement as well. The sponsor must confirm that no suitable workers were available from this pool of Skilled Workers.

Who is Affected?

The rule applies if an applicant:

• Is applying for a visa from outside the UK.

• Is in the UK and applying for permission to stay (switching or extending), but was not previously sponsored as a care worker (SOC 6135 or 6136).

This rule does not apply to those who were already:

• Sponsored in the same care-related occupation codes (SOC 6135 or 6136) under Skilled Worker route and now changing employer under the health and care route.

• Sponsored in the older SOC 2010 codes (6145 or 6146), which previously covered care workers before being updated.

• Legally working for the same sponsor in a care role for at least three months before switching to health and care route.

Increased Minimum Salary for Skilled Workers

The minimum salary threshold for Skilled Worker visas has been raised from £23,200 per year (£11.90 per hour) to £25,000 per year (£12.82 per hour).

What Care Providers Need to Do Now

Care providers must review their recruitment practices to comply with the new sponsorship requirements.

With these new changes, employers in the care sector should review their hiring strategies and prepare for a more competitive recruitment landscape.

This is great news for care workers already in the UK, as it increases their job opportunities. Under the new rules, care providers must first try to recruit from the existing pool of Skilled Workers in the UK before looking overseas.

Read the full statement of changes here

Originally Published by Sukhvinder Singh Nara on Linkedin

Sukhvinder Singh nara – Founder, Nara Solicitors