The Care Workers’ Charity Condemns Home Office Proposals on Indefinite Leave to Remain for Migrant Care Workers

The Care Workers’ Charity (CWC) has expressed its “profound outrage” at the Home Office’s newly announced migration policy changes, proposals that single out migrant care workers with unprecedented and punitive restrictions, sending an unmistakable message that their contribution to this country is neither valued nor respected.

Under the new rules, most migrant workers will see their route to settlement doubled from five to ten years. But those on Health and Social Care visas will face an extraordinary 15-year wait before they can settle in the UK. Meanwhile, high earners, entrepreneurs and those considered part of the “brightest and best” visa categories will be eligible to settle after just three years. NHS doctors and nurses, rightly recognised as essential, retain a five-year route.

This 15-year requirement, applied only to those on Health and Social Care Visas, represents the harshest settlement pathway proposed for any working group. It follows closely on the heels of the ban preventing care workers from bringing dependants, marking the second major policy within a year that disproportionately targets adult social care workers; a workforce already facing exploitation, instability, and chronic undervaluation.

The Home Secretary stated, “I am replacing a broken immigration system with one that prioritises contribution, integration and respect for the British sense of fair play.” Today’s announcement also introduced a reduced settlement time of five years for those classified as ‘skilled frontline public service workers’. Yet care workers, who provide essential, highly skilled and deeply impactful care and support every day, have been excluded from this group. This exclusion demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the vital nature of care work and the immense contribution made by migrant care workers. To place them on the harshest settlement route of any profession while claiming to reward public service and contribution is contradictory, unjust and deeply concerning.

Adding to the injury, the Home Secretary stated that becoming part of the UK is “not a right but a privilege – and one that must be earned.” The insinuation that international care workers have not “earned” their place is not only inaccurate; it is profoundly disrespectful.

This is not fairness.

This is not proportionality.

This is a deliberate devaluing of an entire workforce.

Karolina Gerlich, CEO of The Care Workers’ Charity, said:
“These proposals represent a deeply troubling step backwards for migrant care workers. A 15-year wait for stability is not a reasonable settlement pathway; it is unfair and an unnecessary burden. Migrant care workers make an essential contribution to our communities and to the people they support every day. Policies that diminish their security and wellbeing risk undermining the foundations of the entire social care system.”

Forcing international care workers to wait 15 years for stability, three times longer than high earners and far longer than almost any other group, is indefensible. Suggesting they have not contributed enough is an insult of the highest order. Adult social care cannot function without migrant workers. Targeting them with punitive settlement rules is short-sighted, discriminatory and damaging to the nation’s wellbeing.
The Care Workers’ Charity Calls for an Immediate Reversal.

We urgently call on the Government to:
1. Withdraw the 15-year settlement requirement for care workers.
2. Reinstate fair, humane and consistent settlement routes for migrant care workers and their families.
3. Commit to long-term reform that values the social care workforce rather than scapegoating it.