Changes To Care Home Sector As Immigration Rules Scrapped
New rules have been announced, giving carers a visa that allows them to stay in the UK with their families, as well as applying for permanent residence. The latest changes come as care homes face increasing struggles to attract and keep staff.
Key points:
Care workers have been temporarily added to the Shortage Occupation List, with care assistants, home care workers and care workers able to qualify for sponsorship, as well as the Health and Care visa.
At the moment, these members of staff are all ineligible for the Health and Care visa. The changes come from the United Kingdom Visas and Immigration department.
Now, employers will be able to sponsor foreign national care workers with ease, reducing application costs. The temporary measures will likely be implemented in early 2022 for a minimum of 12 months.
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Relaxation on immigration rules on care-worker jobs will hopefully support the social care sector as shortages continue to cause troubles. The shortage occupation list has been expanded after the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced the decision.
What Is The Current Situation?
Temporary measures have been announced by the United Kingdom Visas and Immigration (UKVI) department that care workers will be added to the Shortage Occupation List (SOL).
This means that care assistants, home care workers and care workers are all able to qualify for the Health and Care visa and sponsorship. It is expected that the changes will be implemented in early 2022 for a minimum of 12 months.
Some of the temporary measures are as follows:
| Types of jobs offered | The type of job offered has to be an eligible health or social care job. These include care assistants, care workers and home care workers, for an approved employer. |
| Applicant requirements | Applicants for the new project must meet the standards of at least level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale for reading, writing, speaking and understanding English. They must also be a qualified adult social care professional. |
| The minimum salary requirements | For employers to sponsor foreign national care workers, the minimum salary requirement will be GBP 20,480. This figure is aligned with the current salary levels that Senior Care Workers are paid. |
| Job offer levels | Under the temporary measures, for the job to qualify, sponsor license holders are required to make sure that they are offering a job at the required skill level or above. These levels are: Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) 3 or above (A level and equivalent). |
| Application costs | For the Health and Care visa, applications cost GBP 232 per person for up to three years or GBP 464 per person for more than three years. However, the new price is a lot less than the GBP 610 per person for a Skilled Worker visa for up to three years or GBP 1,220 per person for more than three years. |
| Support for applications | There will be support for employers and foreign nationals for the application process. They can contact the UKVI’s specialist team for queries related to the application process or eligibility for this visa type: UKVINHSteam@homeoffice.gov.uk. |
| Sponsorships | To qualify for the Health and Care visa, foreign nationals are required to be sponsored by a licensed employer |
| Exemption from Immigration Health Surcharge | If employers meet the requirements of the Health and Care worker visa, they will not be subject to the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). For some UK visa applicants, the IHS fee is levied as well as certain visa types to pay for free access to the National Health Service. Typically, per person per year the cost is GBP 624 which is paid on top of the standard visa application fee. |
What Is The Impact For Employers?
To sponsor foreign national care workers, the new changes will make the whole process a lot easier for employers. The project makes the application system quicker as well as cheaper when recruiting eligible foreign nationals.
Also, the measures will help to combat the current shortage of qualified staff in the United Kingdom in this field. With severe and increasing difficulties, these changes will immediately support the sector that is facing recruitment and retention issues.
Pressures On The Healthcare Sector
Mounting pressure has led to calls for short-term sustainability, in addition to increasing the number of care workers getting vaccinated. Those getting boosted now will help to protect themselves and those they are caring for.
Recommendations from the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) that these jobs should be made eligible for the health and care visa and placed on the list. Furthermore, it will support migrants getting work visas to fill jobs where there are shortages.
Carers and care workers from overseas now have the chance to relocate with dependents, such as children and partners with the offer of a visa, providing settlement in the UK.
Due to unprecedented challenges caused by the pandemic, the latest changes to the health and care visa will provide a much-needed boost to the workforce, alleviating some of the strain currently being experienced.
Campaigners have accused the Government of ignoring the key role that care workers played during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as excluding care workers from the new immigration system.
With high vacancy and turnover rates, there is mounting pressure on staffing due to the recent spread of Omicron. These new measures will be in place for a minimum of 12 months.
Looking Ahead At The Changes
For the temporary measure to go into full effect, there would need to be amendments to the current immigration rules and guidance by the current administration and Parliament. However, it is forecasted to occur in early 2022.
The UK government have a 10-year vision for the Social Care sector, with the new policy in alignment with the plan. In a recent white paper, there is a concise description of areas where funding has been set aside for the sector.
One of the key areas highlighted is training the social care workforce to ensure they have the appropriate qualifications. There have also been pledges from the government to set up workshops with stakeholders. This will inform the development and direction of funding over the next year.
What Is The Background For The New Measures?
| SOL | The SOL is made up of job positions that are reported as being in short supply within the UK resident labour market. There is a more relaxed eligibility criterion for these job positions so that employers have wider access to a pool of suitably skilled workers. |
| Sponsorship | The sponsorship between an employer and the Home Office is a contract that has to have a full commitment by the employer to ensure that the foreign national workforce meets the immigration rules. In addition, employers are required to own a sponsor license. This is a complex process that takes can take up to four months to be granted. Employers that are interested should begin the sponsorship license process as early as possible to make sure that they can hire care workers as needed. |
| Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommendation | The policy change follows the publication of the MAC’s annual report in December 2021. This report recommended that care workers and home carers should straight away be added to the Health and Care Worker Visa route and to the SOL. |
What Other Measures Are Currently In Place?
Weekly Care Home Testing
Each week, care home staff are required to take three lateral flow tests, as well as a weekly PCR test.
The new variant spreads faster than others. According to estimates, infections have been doubling every two to three days, with 10,000 cases having increased transmissibility. Experts have stated that the UK may see one million Omicron cases by the end of the year.
There have been calls for the nation to get their booster jab to help protect each other. In the UK, 22 million people have received their COVID-19 booster vaccine or third dose.
In the last couple of days, the Covid booster booking site crashed, with queues forming outside walk-in sites. More than 100,000 people have tried to book an appointment.
Before visiting family and friends outside of the care home, any residents that are fully vaccinated will be requested to take a lateral flow test on alternate days for two weeks after each outing.
Any residents that are not vaccinated will be required to isolate after outside visits.
Increased Booster Rates
Also, there has been the deployment of vaccination teams to provide booster jabs to residents and staff. This is to offer the guarantee that all housebound people, their caregivers, care home residents and staff, are offered a booster jab.
According to the DHSC, more than 70% of older adult care home residents have already received their booster jab. There is also a focus on care home staff and visitors to get the jab to protect those who are most vulnerable.
£300m Extra In Support
In addition, an extra £300m have been used to help recruit and retain care workers.
This extra £300m can be used on bringing forward planned pay rises for care staff, paying bonuses, funding overtime as well as increasing workforce numbers until the end of March.