A row inside Britain’s Labour government over the future of the Health and Care Worker visa intensified on 26 September 2026 when housing secretary Angela Rayner publicly criticised Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s plan to lengthen the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) from five to 15 years for low-paid migrants. Speaking to The Times ahead of the party’s annual conference, Rayner – herself a former care worker – said the policy would “move the goalposts” for 180,000 overseas carers recruited since 2022. The reform, first floated in last year’s Immigration White Paper, is intended to curb long-term net migration while protecting the domestic labour market. Under draft Immigration Rules seen by industry groups, time spent on the Health and Care route would count towards ILR only after a decade, with a further five-year “integration period” during which applicants would have to earn above the median wage and pass an advanced English test. Unions and large care-home operators warn that such conditions would drive many workers to Canada and Australia, worsening the UK’s chronic social-care staffing shortage. For global mobility managers the proposal raises acute retention and cost issues. Employers who sponsored carers on the understanding that they could achieve permanent residence after five years now face higher churn and may need to fund repeat visa extensions for staff who might otherwise have settled. Relocation support packages – already slim in the care sector – would need to stretch to a decade or more, inflating total assignment costs. The political backlash also creates uncertainty for businesses planning workforce strategies. Prime Minister Andy Burnham is reportedly reviewing whether to exempt workers already in the UK to avoid retrospective harm. However, the Home Office told the Home Affairs Committee last week that it will publish final rules “imminently”, leaving little time for employers to adapt before the scheduled January 2027 start date. Practical steps recommended by immigration advisers include accelerating ILR applications for carers who will reach five years’ residence before January, auditing sponsorship records to ensure workers meet salary thresholds, and modelling head-count impacts if a proportion of staff leave the UK. Companies are also urged to engage with the ongoing consultation, highlighting the potential knock-on effects on NHS discharge rates and hospital bed blocking if care-home staffing collapses.
Source: The Guardian
