National Advisory Service for overseas social care workers

Overseas recruitment, particularly in social care, became a key concern in 2025.

An increasing number of employer sponsorship licences were being revoked by UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI), meaning many migrant workers already working in social care in Wales would become “displaced” through no fault of their own.

At this time, there was no direct support available for social care migrant workers in Wales.

In addition, in July 2025, UKVI announced the end of overseas recruitment into social care roles.

This meant employers who had planned to recruit overseas were no longer able to do so, causing further workforce pressures across the sector.

In response, the National Office for Care and Support and the Migration Policy Team worked at pace during summer 2025 to establish a clear role for the National Advisory Service (NAS) to support overseas social care workers already in Wales who have become displaced or are seeking alternative employment.

We have been reaching out to employers either holding a sponsorship licence or interested in applying for a sponsorship licence, to encourage you to sign up with the NAS and join a register which holds social care vacancies across Wales.

Your vacancies will be shared with displaced workers and overseas workers who contact NAS looking for alternative employment, which will enable them to apply for your roles.

If you have suitable roles that you wish to share with the NAS team, please email:

support@sanctuary.gov.wales

Include your contact details and a link to the job advert if available.

This process is completely voluntary for the employer.

Our overseas workers will apply for your vacant roles. However, it is your decision whether to offer them the roles, depending on their suitability and skills.

A targeted process has been introduced, in partnership with the Welsh Government, the Home Office and UKVI, enabling local authorities to provide additional assurance in support of Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) applications from social care providers.

Its primary purpose is to accelerate the allocation of undefined CoS, particularly where overseas workers have been displaced by sponsor licence revocations and need to transition swiftly into appropriate roles.

By issuing letters of support that confirm workforce need and provider credibility, local authorities help UKVI to prioritise and fast-track these applications.

When a sponsor has had their licence revoked, UKVI will notify overseas workers currently in their employment.

This notification will be sent via email and will provide contact details for the NAS, who will be able to support individuals looking to find new employment in the care sector.

NAS will serve as a first contact point for overseas workers who have been or are due to be displaced because of a revocation of their employer’s sponsorship licence and/or are looking for alternative employment.

Once a displaced worker has been matched with you, a trusted provider, you will then notify the appropriate local authority and ask for a letter of support for your Certificate of Sponsorship application.

To assess your application, the local authority may ask you, the social care sponsor, to:

• provide the evidence that you have submitted to UKVI
• complete a checklist for additional information

Once the local authority is content to submit a letter of support, they will send this letter to UKVI.

UKVI can then expedite applications submitted by providers that match to the letters of support received.

It is important to note that the supporting information submitted by local authorities presents a view, not an endorsement, of any application, and is intended to aid UKVI to make the final decision.

The UK Government has confirmed that the current salary threshold for overseas workers on the Health and Social Care visa remains at £12.82 per hour or £25,000 per year.

During 2025 to 2026, this rate sat above the Real Living Wage (RLW) of £12.60 per hour.

From 1 April 2026, the RLW increased to £13.45 per hour, meaning the RLW is currently higher than the salary threshold for this visa route.

The Home Office has advised that the salary threshold will increase in future, but not immediately.

This is because the Migration Advisory Committee has recently reviewed how salary thresholds are calculated across all visa routes, and further work is required before any changes are implemented.

At this stage, the Home Office cannot confirm when the threshold will rise, or what the new rate will be.

Importantly, providers have a short window to recruit new overseas workers under the current UKVI salary threshold.

We strongly encourage all providers to pay at least the RLW as standard.

Recruiting and employing workers at the RLW now means that, should UKVI increase salary thresholds in future, existing sponsored workers can remain on their agreed salary arrangements.

Further information is available:

Different salary requirements for Health and Care Worker visas

We have received feedback and concern from providers and overseas workers regarding the July 2028 cut-off date for Health and Social Care visa changes.

The Home Office has now confirmed that:

• The 2028 cut-off applies only to people switching into the Health & Care Worker route from other visa categories.
• Workers already on the Health & Care Worker route, or recruited into the route before July 2028, will continue to be able to extend their visas and remain in the UK beyond 2028. Subject to the requirements of the Immigration Rules and processes in place at the time.

This clarification was provided by Home Office officials, who acknowledged the widespread confusion around this policy.

It is important to note that this reassurance sits alongside the ongoing Leave to Remain review/consultation, which may introduce further changes affecting overseas workers in social care.

We will continue to monitor developments closely and will provide updated information as more information becomes available.

Contact the National Advisory Service

If you are interested in registering or have any queries, please contact the NAS team.

Helpline

The NAS contact centre is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and will offer a voicemail service for out-of-hours calls.

Telephone (UK): 0808 1751508

Telephone (outside UK): +44 0204 5425671

Email: Support@sanctuary.gov.wales

Further information

National Advisory Service support for social care employers | GOV.WALES