2. Getting here: visas and the sponsorship system
July 2025 Labour enacts some of its plans:
• Minimum skill level for Skilled Worker visa roles raised from RQF Level 3( A-level) to RQF Level 6( bachelor’ s degree) with new salary thresholds applied.
• Roles that are classified below RQF Level 6 may still be sponsored where they appear on either the Immigration Salary List( ISL) or the new Temporary Shortage List( TSL). However, these roles will carry additional restrictions, including a limitation on bringing dependants.
• It removed some eligible jobs roles from ISL and TSL list such as SOC codes 6135( care workers) and 6136( senior care workers), ending overseas recruitment for social care.
• Nurses can still be recruited as can‘ nursing auxiliaries’, a new‘ medium-skilled’ worker category at least until the end of 2026.
• Workers already on Skilled Worker visas, or those applying using sponsorship issued before 22 July, will be protected by transitional arrangements and can continue to apply for extensions or switch employers, even in roles that no longer meet the updated skill threshold.
• Workers switching visa types after July 2025 eg. From a graduate to Health and Care worker will be impacted by the new rules e. g. on thresholds and dependents.
• New obligations on care sponsors to register with the CQC and operate within recognised framework agreements.
Abuse built into the system
Major reports in 2023 and 2024 and a BBC Panorama documentary have exposed how the UK’ s immigration policies and the light-touch regulation of recruitment agencies and employers enable widespread exploitation of migrant care workers. The problems are not isolated or accidental – they are built into the system.
The 2024 inspection report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, the government appointed official responsible for providing independent scrutiny of the UK’ s border and immigration functions, found systemic failures in the administration of the Health and Care Worker visa. It says the Home Office launched the scheme with little understanding of the sector, minimal oversight, and inadequate safeguards. The sponsor licensing model, designed for regulated sectors, was applied to a low-paid and fragmented industry, opening the door for widespread abuse by employers and intermediaries, many of whom have sprung up over the last few years in order to profit from the system.
Migrant workers have been charged illegal fees to work in the UK, housed in poor conditions, and left unpaid or underpaid. Domiciliary care workers are especially at
12 LRD • Supporting migrant workers