In an update to its cancellation and curtailment guidance published on 15 September, the Home Office confirmed that Skilled Worker and Health & Care Worker visa holders in SOC codes 6135, 6145, 6136 and 6146 will no longer have their leave automatically cancelled if their sponsoring employer loses its licence. The measure is explicitly temporary while ‘structural reforms’ to the care-sector sponsorship regime are considered, but it offers immediate relief to thousands of overseas carers whose status has been thrown into doubt by a spike in compliance failures among smaller agencies. Under the normal rules, visa permission is curtailed—often to 60 days—when a sponsor’s licence is revoked, leaving workers little time to find a new sponsor and pushing many into illegality. The new policy pauses cancellations where the only ground is licence revocation; visas will remain valid until they expire or the holder changes employer through the standard change-of-employment process. Cases involving safeguarding or criminal concerns remain subject to curtailment. For care-home operators and NHS trusts this removes the risk of sudden staffing holes caused by third-party labour-supply failures and gives affected workers the confidence to apply for vacancies without fear of immigration enforcement. Employers should, however, remember that change-of-employer applications must still be submitted and approved before a migrant can start work, so onboarding timelines should reflect current UKVI processing of around eight weeks unless the £500 priority fee is paid. The concession also signals that the government is alive to criticism that its broader settlement reforms unfairly target lower-paid care staff. Industry bodies should use the breathing space to press for a permanent solution—such as introducing umbrella sponsorship or a sectoral scheme modelled on seasonal agriculture—that balances compliance with labour-market needs.
Source: LexisNexis Legal News
