Care Workers to be added to the sponsored jobs list – Skilled Worker route

Up until now the role of ‘Care Worker’ has been considered too low-skilled to be sponsored under the Skilled Worker route.

Nursing homes and care providers who held a sponsor licence have been able to sponsor overseas workers as Nurses and Senior Care Workers, but not care workers or home carers.

Just before Christmas last year the government announced that the rules would be changed, on a temporary basis, from ‘early 2022’, to allow migrant workers to be sponsored in these ‘lower skilled’ positions.

The government have now published details of the changes that will be made, and the date that they will be implemented – 15 February 2022.

From this date individuals can apply to fill roles as Care Workers, as long as they meet the criteria of the Skilled Worker route. These include having a sponsor willing to employ them (who holds a sponsor licence), a job offer where they will earn at least £10.10 an hour, and £20,480 a year, and being able to demonstrate the required level of English language.

Care Workers will also be covered by the Health and Care visa category, meaning that applicants will pay a lower visa fee (£232 for a 3-year visa, rather than £464) and will be exempt from paying the Immigration Health Surcharge.

The scheme will initially only be open to applicants for 12 months, but for applicants who come under the scheme it will offer a potential route to stay in the UK long-term and settle. Applicants will be able to bring partners and children under 18 with them as dependants.

The changes will be reviewed after 12 months and may be extended, but this is not guaranteed.

How can companies sponsor the Health and Care Worker visa?

If you are an employer wanting to take advantage of the changes, your first step is to apply for a sponsor licence, if you do not already have one. Licence applications can take several weeks to be processed, and organisations need to make sure they understand the duties and responsibilities they will have as a sponsor, and put systems in place to meet these before applying. Check the following link for further information on how to obtain a sponsor licence

How Gherson can assist

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