National Advisory Service support for social care employers

When a sponsor licence is revoked any Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) automatically becomes invalid and this means that any workers associated with that licence are affected.

If you have received a letter from Home Office or UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI), it will tell you that your existing permission remains valid until another Home Office department writes to you to confirm it has been shortened or cancelled, or until it expires (whichever is the earliest).

You will need to start looking for new sponsored employment and make a new visa application for it in order to stay in the UK.

Whilst this can be a distressing time, the letter will have information on support you can access, including information on the National Advisory Service who can support you with sourcing another role in Wales.

The National Advisory Service (NAS) is here to support overseas social care workers in Wales who have lost their job, are at risk of losing it, or are looking for a new role.

If your employer’s sponsorship licence has been revoked or you need to find alternative employment, NAS can act as your first point of contact for advice and support.

The service will help you understand your options, provide guidance on your rights, and support you in finding employment within the social care sector.

NAS can support you by:

• Job Matching: NAS can assist you to find employment with a registered provider, where your employer’s licence has been or is due to be revoked. You are also encouraged to seek employment independently.
• Signposting: NAS will offer you tailored guidance, including signposting to CV and interview support, employment advice, and wellbeing services.
• Triage and Prioritisation: Some of you will have received your letter from UKVI formally identifying you as a displaced worker due to your employer’s licence being revoked. If this applies to you, you will be prioritised ahead of those overseas workers seeing alternative employment.
• Legal Advice: NAS does not provide legal advice or immigration advice. Instead, you will be signposted to the appropriate organisations for further support, or where relevant, advised to seek independent legal advice.
• General Advice: NAS will not provide you with any advice. Instead, they will signpost you to relevant information so you can make informed decisions.

If you change jobs, your new employer will need to issue you with a new Certificate of Sponsorship.

So, an important question to ask when you apply for the position is if they can sponsor you with your visa.

Welsh Government does not hold information on individual job vacancies within the care sector.

However, NAS does maintain such information from providers holding sponsorship licences who have registered with their service.

You are also able to find care positions yourself advertised on WeCare Wales’s website which is a dedicated platform to social care work in Wales.

There are a number of other places to look for potential employers in the care and health sector.

Please see the ‘Needing to find a new job’ section in the following link:

Supporting international workers in social care to settle in Wales

NAS contact details

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

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

Provider vacancies are shared with displaced workers and overseas workers looking for alternative employment, which will enable them to apply for the roles.

Rather than starting the recruitment process from scratch, providers ultimately have access to a pool of candidates who are ready and eligible to work, and who may bring valuable experience they have already gained in a previous role.

This process is completely voluntary for the employer.

Our displaced workers will apply for the vacant roles, however, it is the providers decision as to whether they offer you the roles or not, depending on suitability and skills.

Local Authority support for UKVI assessment of care sector Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) applications

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.

This provides clear benefits to providers by:

• reducing recruitment delays
• supporting workforce stability
• enabling the retention of experienced international staff

It also forms part of a wider package of support for affected workers.

For more information on the process to follow, please see the link below:

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

Local Authority support for UKVI assessment of care sector Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) applications

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.

This provides clear benefits to providers by:

• reducing recruitment delays
• supporting workforce stability
• enabling the retention of experienced international staff

It also forms part of a wider package of support for affected workers.

For more information on the process to follow, please see the link below:

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

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.

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.

Further information

National Advisory Service for overseas social care workers