A significant drop in visa applications from overseas care workers has raised alarms across the UK social care sector, as care homes face worsening staff shortages. The number of applicants for health and care worker visas plummeted from 129,000 to 26,000 following the introduction of rules preventing migrant workers from bringing dependants. With more than 100,000 care vacancies across England and a vacancy rate three times the national average, experts warn the new policies could force some services to close, increasing pressure on already stretched NHS hospitals.
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Charities and sector leaders have voiced concern about the government’s approach. Age UK stated that migrant care workers have been essential to keeping services running and warned that their absence could spell crisis for vulnerable people and NHS systems. New salary thresholds introduced by the current Labour government will now block many healthcare assistants—13 per cent of whom are from overseas—from obtaining visas. Vicky Haines of Kingsway Care criticised the government’s lack of industry understanding and called the recruitment system “short-sighted”.
Industry data backs these warnings. According to Skills for Care, international recruitment to England’s independent care sector dropped from 26,000 per quarter to 8,000 last year. Nuffield Trust reported that March 2025 saw the lowest number of applicants since data collection began, with a 70 per cent fall year-on-year. NHS Providers said the policy shift makes it harder to meet rising care demands, while the Liberal Democrats and Care England called for a coherent strategy to rebuild the UK’s care workforce.
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Despite recognising the contributions of overseas workers, the Home Office has defended the changes, insisting that net migration must fall. It emphasised that new rules would encourage employers to hire international care workers already in the UK. However, critics argue that without a sustainable, long-term workforce plan, care homes will struggle to deliver safe, dignified care and the NHS will bear the burden of systemic failure.
