Prime Minister Andy Burnham is considering exempting care workers already in Britain from tougher immigration settlement rules, as his government weighs how to reform a social care system heavily dependent on overseas staff. The possible carve-out comes amid renewed scrutiny of how thousands of care providers were allowed to sponsor migrant workers before hundreds later lost their licences over breaches, exploitation concerns and other compliance failures.
The issue has gained fresh attention after a Telegraph investigation reported that care businesses later identified as problematic had been cleared under the sponsorship system to bring large numbers of migrant workers to Britain.
The revelations have intensified questions over whether failures in the system were caused by migrant workers themselves or by weak vetting and oversight of the employers allowed to sponsor them.
Government figures show that more than 470 care-sector sponsor licences were revoked between July 2022 and December 2024 as authorities stepped up enforcement against abuse and exploitation. More than 39,000 workers had been linked to those sponsors, according to evidence submitted to Parliament.
The Home Office has acknowledged that some overseas care workers arrived in Britain only to find the jobs they had been promised did not exist, while others were left in debt or faced unfair treatment.
New Daily Prime has previously reported concerns about gaps in Britain’s care recruitment system, including allegations involving international students applying for or taking social care jobs. Nigerians accused of exploiting UK student visas to get care jobs
Burnham considers protection for existing migrant carers
Burnham is now considering whether care workers who are already legally living and working in Britain should be protected from proposed tougher rules governing indefinite leave to remain, or ILR.
ILR is the immigration status that allows a person to live and work in the UK without a time limit and is normally an important step towards British citizenship.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has proposed an “earned settlement” system under which some migrants could face a substantially longer wait before qualifying for permanent residence.
For some care workers, the proposed changes could increase the qualifying period from five years to as much as 15 years.
Burnham has not yet made a final decision.
The Prime Minister said recently that decisions on settlement would form part of a wider immigration package expected in the autumn. Asked whether the package had been settled, he said it had not.
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has publicly urged Burnham to protect existing foreign care workers from retrospective changes, arguing that people who came to Britain under one set of rules should not suddenly face a much longer route to settlement.
The possible exemption would therefore not mean that Britain is reopening unrestricted overseas recruitment for care workers.
That route was closed to new overseas applicants on 22 July 2025.
Existing workers and some people already inside Britain can still switch into eligible care roles during a transitional period running until July 2028, subject to immigration requirements.
This distinction is important for migrant workers, including Nigerians, because an exemption from tougher settlement rules would affect people already in Britain rather than automatically creating a new route for people abroad to apply for care jobs.
How weaknesses emerged in care-worker sponsorship
Care workers were added to the Health and Care Worker visa route in 2022 after severe labour shortages across Britain’s adult social care sector.
The policy led to a sharp rise in international recruitment.
But concerns soon emerged over companies obtaining sponsor licences despite limited experience in social care, weak financial records or insufficient evidence that genuine jobs existed.
The Migration Advisory Committee previously documented examples including a care provider that was dormant but had sponsored workers and another company found to be dormant at Companies House despite sponsoring more than 40 care-worker visas.
It also recorded concerns about certificates of sponsorship allegedly being advertised for sale on social media.
Parliament was subsequently told that some firms registered with the Care Quality Commission, the regulator for health and social care in England, had never been inspected before receiving sponsorship approval.
Peers also heard concerns that a company could become dormant after CQC registration without that status being immediately obvious to workers checking the public register.
These cases do not mean every care provider that recruited overseas staff broke the rules.
Nor do they mean migrant carers were responsible for failures by their sponsoring employers.
Many overseas workers were themselves victims when licences were revoked, leaving them suddenly without jobs and needing to find another approved sponsor to keep their immigration status.
The Government has made up to £7.5 million available in 2026-27 to regional partnerships helping displaced international care workers find new and ethical employment.
Care sector remains dependent on migrant workers
The political difficulty for Burnham is that tougher immigration rules come at a time when social care continues to struggle with recruitment and retention.
Overseas workers helped fill thousands of vacancies after Brexit and during the staffing crisis that followed the pandemic.
Government and parliamentary evidence has repeatedly linked shortages to low wages, demanding working conditions and difficulties attracting enough UK-based staff.
Burnham has made social care reform one of his priorities and has said care workers should be among the best-paid workers in society rather than among the lowest paid.
He is also seeking to accelerate wider work on creating a National Care Service.
That creates a policy dilemma.
On one hand, ministers want to reduce Britain’s reliance on lower-paid overseas recruitment and prevent employers from using migration instead of improving wages and training.
On the other, rapidly removing experienced migrant carers could deepen workforce shortages and place greater pressure on elderly and disabled people who depend on social care.
That is why the proposed exemption for workers already in Britain could become one of the most significant decisions in Burnham’s autumn immigration package.
New Daily Prime has previously examined the wider impact of tougher UK immigration rules on businesses, families and sectors that depend heavily on migrant labour. UK immigration crackdown sparks industry alarm, family hardship
Enforcement has already tightened
The Home Office has taken several steps since concerns about the care visa system emerged.
Care providers in England sponsoring workers were required to register with the CQC, while authorities increased sponsor inspections and licence revocations.
The previous government also stopped most care workers from bringing dependants before closing the overseas route entirely in July 2025.
Officials have argued that sponsorship is a privilege rather than an automatic right and that companies must show they are genuine, operating lawfully and capable of complying with immigration rules.
Parliament was told in June that licences could be suspended or revoked where employers failed to meet those requirements.
For migrant care workers whose sponsor loses its licence, the consequences can still be serious.
They may need to find another employer able to sponsor them within a limited period or risk losing their right to remain.
Government-backed regional schemes have therefore been set up to match affected carers with other employers.
What Burnham’s possible exemption would mean
If Burnham approves the exemption, it would most likely protect eligible care workers already in the UK from some of the proposed tougher settlement conditions.
It would not automatically give every foreign care worker permanent residence, and it would not remove requirements relating to lawful residence, employment or other immigration conditions.
The precise rules would depend on the final government policy.
For now, no exemption has been formally introduced.
Migrant care workers should therefore continue to follow their existing visa conditions and should not assume that reports of a possible carve-out have changed their immigration status.
The Government is expected to provide further details after completing its review of the settlement proposals.
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