UNITED KINGDOM: Home Office Adds Care Workers to the Shortage Occupation List

January 25, 2022


On 24 January 2022, the UK Home Office released an update to the UK Immigration Rules to add care workers to the Shortage Occupation List and make the role eligible for the Skilled Worker route. These changes are aimed at helping to alleviate current pressures on the health and social care system as a result of COVID-19.

The change brings the occupation code for care workers and home carers within those codes accepted for Skilled Worker sponsorship. However, although home carers are included in the same occupation code, these changes are not designed to enable home carers to be sponsored as Skilled Workers, unless they are working for an organisation which is able to meet the sponsorship requirements. Therefore, private households or individuals (other than sole traders sponsoring someone to work for their business) cannot sponsor Skilled Worker applicants.

This will mean that sponsors who wish to hire under this job type will be able to:

  1. rely on lower salary threshold requirements;
  2. pay lower application fees; and
  3. not have to meet the requirement that the role be at least Regulated Qualification Framework (RQF) level 3 (which broadly equates to A level in the UK).

In line with other care-related occupations eligible for sponsorship, applicants applying from outside the UK will still need to provide criminal record certificates when they apply for the visa.

These changes will be implemented on 15 February 2022.

Organisations and individuals impacted by this development are encouraged to contact a Newland Chase immigration specialist for case-specific advice.

For general advice and information on immigration and business travel to the UK, please contact us.

This immigration update is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for legal or scenario-specific advice. Furthermore, it is important to note that immigration announcements are subject to sudden and unexpected changes. Readers are encouraged to reach out to Newland Case for any case- or company-specific assessments.