Nigeria, Others Affected As UK Clamps Down On Care Workers’ Visas

The United Kingdom has announced plans to abolish the care worker visa route in the coming months, a move that could impact thousands of Nigerians seeking employment in the UK’s health and social care sector.

It also said foreign criminals in the country would, henceforth, face rapid deportation under the new immigration rules.

UK Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, who disclosed these yesterday, said the visa pathway, heavily used by migrants, would be phased out as part of efforts to curb overall migration.

The move, detailed in a white paper to be published today, is part of broader restrictions on employers using visas to fill lower-skilled roles.

Cooper said the decision marked the end of a “failed free market experiment” that allowed widespread overseas recruitment.

She told the BBC the changes would cut annual arrivals by around 50,000, though she declined to set a specific target for net migration.

“It should come down significantly more, than 500,000,” she told Sky News.

The crackdown followed local election gains by anti-immigration Reform UK, which is now polling ahead of Labour.

Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, pledged yesterday “to restore control and cut migration. with tough new measures. British workers, I’ve got your back.”

The care visa ban has sparked concern among providers, who face critical staff shortages. Jane Townson of the Homecare Association warned: “Where will these workers come from if neither the funding nor the migration route exists?”

Cooper acknowledged sector concerns but said care providers should hire from the 10,000 migrants already in the UK under care visas, some of whom took jobs “that weren’t actually here or that were not of the proper standard.”

While promising a new “fair pay agreement” for care workers, she noted: “We saw that huge increase in care work recruitment from abroad, but without actually ever tackling the problems in the system.”

Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp, dismissed the move as “a little 50,000 tweak,” blaming the Conservative government for acting “too late” after migration peaked above 900,000 in 2023.

The government also plans to limit skilled worker visas to graduate-level roles and restrict access to non-graduate visas to strictly time-limited positions linked to industrial needs.

While changes for international students will be less severe than feared, Cooper said universities must enforce compliance with visa rules.

Reform UK’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, said public anger over migration helped his party top local polls.

He called the government’s plan a failure and demanded a “separate, dedicated department of immigration.”

The Home Office also said more foreign criminals in the UK would face rapid deportation from the country as part of reforms to deportation and removal rules.

The reforms, which will be announced today as part of the government’s Immigration White Paper, will allow the Home Office use wider removal powers on other crimes, including swifter action, to remove people who recently arrived in the country but had already committed crimes under the new rule.

“Currently, the Home Office is only informed of foreign nationals given prison sentences and deportation arrangements focus predominantly on those sentenced to more than a year in prison.

“Under the new arrangements, the Home Office will be informed of all foreign nationals convicted of offences, not just those who receive prison sentences,” it said.

The Home Office said it would consider all offences, not just those that carry a 12-month custodial sentence, and strengthen powers to remove perpetrators of violence against women and girls.

“The overhaul will make it easier to remove those who commit offences, including violence, against women and girls, street and knife crimes, before the threat they pose escalates.

“Any foreign national placed on the Sex Offenders Register regardless of sentence length will be classed as having committed a ‘serious crime’ with no right to asylum protections in the UK,” the ministry stated.

The Home Secretary said: “It is a basic requirement – those who come to the UK should abide by our laws. The system for returning foreign criminals has been far too weak for too long. “Already, we have increased the number of foreign national offenders being removed since the election. But we need much higher standards. The rules need to be respected and enforced.

“We need to restore control so that net migration comes down and proper standards and order are returned.

“As part of the White Paper, the government will also update refusal policies and immigration rules to mirror these changes. This means if a person commits an offence while on a short-term visa, they will be refused if they make a fresh application.

“New measures will be explored to swiftly cancel visas to those who commit crimes, ensuring action is taken against offenders before they can put down roots in the UK.”

Cooper added that the government aimed to cut 50,000 lower-skilled worker visas this year, saying

“there will also be clearer rules in areas such as immigration on the grounds of family connections in an attempt to cut abuse in the system.

“These changes are essential to end the chaos left by the Tories in the immigration system and to regain control.”

In a post on his X handle, Prime Minister Keir Starmer noted that previous Conservative governments had lost control of the borders.

“I won’t stand for it. I promised to restore control and cut migration, and I’m delivering with tough new measures,” he added.

By Vanguard.