Changes to care worker sponsorship

New immigration policy changes, implemented from 9th April 2025, will significantly impact the sponsorship of overseas health and care staff under the Skilled Worker route.

These changes aim to prioritise the recruitment of care workers already in the UK and increase the minimum salary thresholds for a role to be eligible for sponsorship.

Prioritising recruitment of existing UK-based care workers

Care providers in England must now prove they have tried to recruit someone who holds a Skilled Worker visa, is already resident in England, and needs new sponsorship, before they can sponsor a care worker from overseas or someone switching from another visa.

The new requirement aims to ensure that overseas nationals who have already come to the UK to work in adult social care have the opportunity to continue doing so.

Importantly, it will only apply to individuals working in England and there are exemptions in place for existing care workers that have been employed by an organisation for at least three months under a different immigration route.

Increased minimum salary threshold for Skilled Workers

The minimum salary threshold payable for care workers will also increase to £12.82 per hour, or £25,000 per annum, up from £23,200.

It’s important to note that the National Living Wage (NLW) also increased to £12.21 per hour for those aged 21 and over from 1st April 2025.

Employers must therefore ensure that all current sponsored Skilled Workers meet at least the new minimum National Living Wage threshold of £12.21 per hour.

Deductions from salary

From 9th April 2025, any deductions from an applicant’s salary, such as repayments of loans, will be treated as reductions to their gross salary for immigration purposes.

For example, if a sponsored role has a required salary threshold of £45,000, and the applicant is paid a gross salary of £47,500, but has taken a £4,000 employee loan to cover visa application costs, to be repaid via monthly salary deductions, the Home Office will treat their annual salary as £43,500 (£47,500 minus the £4,000 loan).

As this falls below the required salary threshold for the role, the role would no longer meet the minimum salary requirement for sponsorship.

While certain exemptions apply, if your organisation routinely offers loans to cover immigration costs, we recommend introducing a clear and robust eligibility policy to assess when and how such loans are offered.

Please do get in touch should you require any further support.

Xander May
Solicitor
Stone King LLP