Victims freed from abusive employers under new visa rules

From today, victims of modern slavery on Skilled Worker visas will be free to leave abusive employers without risking their immigration status.

Once an individual is formally recognised as a victim of modern slavery, they will no longer be tied to a specific sponsor and can take up any lawful work for the rest of their visa.

Until now, victims who left an abusive sponsor risked losing both their immigration status and their income, as Skilled Worker visa holders have no recourse to public funds.

This change ends that choice, delivering what victims and anti-slavery campaigners have long called for. It means workers can leave abusive employers without risking destitution, helping them support themselves and rebuild their lives.

It will help workers across the Skilled Worker route, including care workers and others who came to the UK in good faith but were exploited by rogue employers.

One victim paid an agency £20,000 for what she believed was stable, full-time care work. Instead, her abusive sponsor demanded £400 a month just to keep her visa active, while providing little or no work.

For months, she struggled to pay rent and support her family, facing repeated threats that her visa would be cancelled.

When work finally came, she was paid as little as £200 to £300 a month, a fraction of what she had been promised.

From today, modern slavery victims like her will be able to leave abusive sponsors as soon as they are recognised by the Home Office, take up lawful work and start rebuilding their lives.

Minister for Migration and Citizenship, Jo White, said:

No one should have to endure the exploitation experienced by victims like this.

Today’s changes will give victims the freedom to leave abusive workplaces, rebuild their lives and move on from the trauma of exploitation.

While we support victims, we are also going after those responsible. Rogue sponsors who exploit workers will face the full force of the law.

The measures are part of the government’s wider efforts to tackle modern slavery and rogue employers who abuse the immigration system.  Through the Immigration White Paper, the government has committed to making it easier for sponsored workers to change employer, reducing dependency on individual sponsors and strengthening protections against exploitation.

The victim’s former employer was among the more than 6,600 sponsors stripped of their licence to hire overseas workers since this government came to power, which is more revocations than in a decade under the previous government.

Of these, over 4,400 were stripped of their licence in the year ending June 2026, a 140% rise on the year before and the highest level on record. Where evidence of criminality is identified, sponsors will be referred to the police and face the full force of the law.

Eleanor Lyons, Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner said:

I welcome this change. I have heard repeatedly from survivors how they became trapped in abusive employment, fearful that leaving could put their livelihood and immigration status at risk. That is why I have consistently called for greater freedom for sponsored workers to leave exploitative employers without jeopardising their immigration status.

No victim of modern slavery should have to remain with an abusive employer. Giving victims the freedom to leave, find alternative work and support themselves will help remove a significant barrier that can keep people trapped in exploitation.

Salvation Army Deputy Director Anti Trafficking and Modern Slavery Major Heather Grinsted said:

We know from our work with modern slavery survivors that one of the key ways to protect people from future exploitation is to help them regain stability through financial independence. Allowing survivors to work for another sponsor for the remainder of their visa is a crucial way to help them rebuild their lives safely and with dignity.

The Salvation Army also welcomes efforts to crack down on rogue employers whose willingness to exploit people further incentivises criminal gangs to trick, trap and trade vulnerable people for profit.

SOURCE: GOV