The UK will stop recruiting care workers from overseas as part of a broader crackdown on visas for lower-skilled workers, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced.
Speaking to the BBC, Cooper said it was “time to end that care worker recruitment from abroad” and that firms will now be required to hire British nationals or extend the visas of foreign care workers already in the country.
The move is part of the government’s plan to reduce net migration, which reached a record high of 906,000 in June 2023 and stood at 728,000 last year.
Cooper stated that the visa changes—set to be unveiled on Monday—could cut up to 50,000 low-skilled and care worker visas over the next year.
The threshold for skilled visas will be raised to graduate level, and the list of eligible shortage occupations will be narrowed.
Additional rules will require employers to prove they have attempted to hire domestically before turning to foreign applicants.
The Home Secretary also pledged to introduce a fair pay agreement to make care sector jobs more attractive to local workers.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp agreed with ending overseas recruitment for care but criticized Labour’s broader plan as “too little,” calling instead for an annual cap on migration.
Nadra Ahmed of the National Care Association warned the policy would make an already difficult staffing crisis in care homes even worse, as domestic workers remain in short supply.
The changes follow an earlier ban on overseas care workers bringing dependants, which led to a drop in visa applications from 18,300 in August 2023 to just 1,700 in April 2024.
