Employers will be required to prioritise recruiting international care workers already in England before recruiting from overseas.

The new rules were laid in Parliament today (12 March).

From 9 April, care providers who want to recruit a new worker from overseas will have to first prove that they have attempted to recruit a worker from within England who needs new sponsorship. This ensures that those who came to the UK to pursue a career in adult social care can do so and will help end the reliance on overseas recruitment as we restore order to our immigration system through our Plan for Change.

Significant work has been ongoing across government, in collaboration with the care sector, to ensure high standards across the immigration system, and to support care workers into alternative jobs when their sponsor has had their licence removed. Under our Plan for Change, we will set out a comprehensive plan to restore order to our broken immigration system, linking immigration, skills and visa systems to grow our domestic skills, end reliance on overseas labour and boost economic growth.

As well as continuing to tackle exploitation, the government is also continuing its clampdown on abuse in the immigration system with changes to the Short-Term Student route.

The visa is designed for those studying an English language course in the UK for between 6 and 11 months, however, there are rising concerns that the route is being abused by those without a genuine intention to study or to leave the UK at the end of their course. In light of this troubling trend, tough new rules will give expanded powers for caseworkers to refuse visa applications which are suspected of being non-genuine.

Seema Malhotra, Minister for Migration and Citizenship, said:

Those who have come to the UK to support our adult care sector should have the opportunity to do so, free from abuse and exploitation.

We have already taken action to ensure employers are not able to flout the rules with little consequence or exploit international workers for costs they were always supposed to pay.

We are now going further, requiring employers in England to prioritise recruiting international care workers who are already here and seeking new sponsorship, before recruiting from overseas.

The new requirements continue government action announced in November to crack down on employers who abuse the visa system; barring those who repeatedly break immigration or employment laws from hiring overseas workers and will help support those workers into new jobs.

The changes announced last year also ban companies from charging workers for the cost of their sponsorship, which has never been intended and led to exploitation, unfair treatment of staff and unsustainable levels of debt in the care sector.

Between July 2022 and December 2024, the government has revoked more than 470 sponsor licences in the care sector to clamp down on abuse and exploitation. More than 39,000 workers have been associated with these sponsors since October 2020.

Changes announced today will also see the minimum salary thresholds updated to reflect the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This will ensure those working on the Skilled Worker visa, including care workers, are paid a minimum of £12.82 per hour.

Health and education occupations, including doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and teachers, will also see their minimum rates increased to reflect the latest national pay scales.

Stephen Kinnock, Minister of State for Care, said:

International care workers play a vital role in our social care workforce. We value their contribution and work supporting vulnerable people across the country every day.

As we crack down on shameful rogue operators exploiting overseas workers here in the UK, we must do all we can to get the victims back into rewarding careers in adult social care.

Prioritising care workers who are already in the UK will get people back to work reducing our reliance on international recruitment, and make sure our social care sector has the care professionals it needs.

The rules come as the government continues implementation of a series of measures to reduce the potential for abuse on the Student and Graduate visa routes.

Further details of the government’s plan to reduce the staggeringly high levels of legal migration seen in recent years will be set out in the government’s forthcoming Immigration White Paper.