The UK Home Office has put in place new visa rules that make it harder for care workers from other countries, like Indians, to bring family members who depend on them to the UK. The Home Office implemented this move, which took effect this week, to fix what it called a “disproportionate” situation last year. In that situation, 100,000 workers on the care visa route were accompanied by 120,000 dependents.
The move was justified by Home Secretary James Cleverly, who stressed the need to stop people from abusing visas and lower “unsustainable” levels of legal migration. They stated that care workers are very important to society, but they also said that the government would stop people from abusing and cheating the visa system.
“These rules provide a more ethical and sustainable approach,” Helen Whately, Minister for Social Care, said. She said that international care workers are very important, but she also stressed the need for a long-term solution in the UK to meet social care needs. As part of the reforms, we will create a national job path for care workers and a new care qualification to help the homegrown workforce.
The government claims that it is necessary to stop care workers from being taken advantage of after they are given visas under fake pretences, often for jobs that don’t exist or pay less than the minimum wage. Some of the steps are raising the minimum wage for trained workers and getting rid of the 20% “going-rate” discount for migrant workers in jobs where there aren’t enough people to do them.
The Home Office states that a larger deal will prevent 300,000 people who were allowed to come to the UK last year from being able to do so anymore. There will also be an evaluation of the Graduate Route for foreign students to make sure it works well. Indian citizens are the main group that benefits from this visa.
The review comes after recent changes to student visas made it impossible for most post-graduate students to bring their children to the UK. Starting April 4, the minimum salary for people coming in on a Skilled Worker visa will go up by a lot. This will also have an effect on the financial standards for family visas.
