Can care workers still get UK visa sponsorship after July 2025?

Can care workers still get UK visa sponsorship?

GOV.UK’s guide for people applying for health and social care jobs from abroad says:

From 22 July 2025, the UK immigration route for care workers and senior care workers closed to new applications from overseas. This means employers can no longer sponsor new care workers or senior care workers from abroad. There will be a transition period until 2028 (to be kept under review), where in-country applications (including from other visa routes) will continue to be permitted for care workers and senior care workers, provided individuals are already working in these roles in the adult social care sector. This means, for example, that care providers will continue to be able to recruit those who want to switch from student or graduate visas, who we know have provided a vital role in workforce capacity in recent years.

In short: employers can no longer sponsor new care workers or senior care workers from abroad. Until 2028 (to be kept under review), in-country applications, including from another visa such as a Student or Graduate visa, are still allowed for people who already work in these roles in the adult social care sector.

If you are abroad and hoped to come to the UK as a care worker, this is hard news. Other health jobs use other occupation codes, and our Health and Care Worker visa guide shows the codes that visa lists. The rest of this page quotes who the rules still cover and what to check on a care job.

Health and Care Worker visa: which health jobs qualify

Who can still be sponsored as a care worker?

These are short extracts. The full rules, with every condition, are quoted below. Bringing a partner or children is a separate question that this page does not cover.

What to check on a care job

• How long you have legally worked for this employer in a care worker or senior care worker job. Option (a) of SW 6.1B counts “at least the three months ending on the date the certificate of sponsorship was issued”.
• Which occupation code the employer will put on the certificate of sponsorship. SW 6.1B names the codes it covers.
• Whether the employer holds a sponsor licence. You can search the Home Office register of licensed sponsors by name.
• For a job in England, whether the employer is registered with the Care Quality Commission. The GOV.UK wording is quoted in the CQC section below.
• Whether the advert says anything about sponsorship. Our guide below shows the lines to look for.

Certificate of sponsorship: what it is

Check a sponsor licence on the Home Office register

Does this job offer visa sponsorship? How to read an advert

Who chooses the occupation code for a support worker job?

The rules say who picks the occupation code:

The sponsor must choose an appropriate SOC 2020 occupation code, and the decision maker must not have reasonable grounds to believe the sponsor has chosen a less appropriate SOC 2020 occupation code for any of the following reasons: (a) the most appropriate SOC 2020 occupation code is not eligible under the Skilled Worker route; or (b) the most appropriate SOC 2020 occupation code has a higher going rate than the proposed salary; or (c) the most appropriate SOC 2020 occupation code is not on the Immigration Salary List and the applicant is claiming points for a job on the Immigration Salary List; or (d) the most appropriate SOC 2020 occupation code is not listed as “eligible for PhD points” in Table 1 of Appendix Skilled Occupations and the applicant is claiming points for an educational qualification.

In short: the sponsor chooses the code. The decision maker must not have reasonable grounds to believe the sponsor chose a less appropriate code because the most appropriate code is not eligible for the Skilled Worker route, has a higher going rate than the proposed salary, is not on the Immigration Salary List while the applicant claims points for a Salary List job, or is not listed as “eligible for PhD points” in Table 1 of Appendix Skilled Occupations while the applicant claims points for an educational qualification.

SW 6.1B names two codes, 6135 and 6136. Code 6131, nursing auxiliaries and assistants, is a separate code that SW 6.1B does not name. Our Health and Care Worker visa guide covers 6131.

Which health jobs, including 6131, qualify for the Health and Care Worker visa

The rule for codes 6135 and 6136: Appendix Skilled Worker SW 6.1B

The Immigration Rules set this out in paragraph SW 6.1B of Appendix Skilled Worker. It reads in full:

If the applicant is being sponsored in the SOC 2020 occupation code “6135 Care workers and home carers” or “6136 Senior care workers”, the application must be for permission to stay, and either: (a) (i) the applicant must have been legally working for the sponsor in one of these SOC 2020 occupation codes for at least the three months ending on the date the certificate of sponsorship was issued by the sponsor to the applicant; and (ii) the date of application must be before 22 July 2028; or (b) the applicant must have permission as a Skilled Worker, sponsored in either of these SOC 2020 occupations codes (or the SOC 2010 occupation codes “6145 Care workers and home carers” or “6146 Senior care workers”) (except that where the Exceptions for overstayers section of Part Suitability applies, that period of overstaying will be disregarded).

In short: the application must be for permission to stay, and one of two things must be true. Option (a): the person has legally worked for the sponsor in one of these codes for at least the three months up to the day the sponsor issued the certificate of sponsorship, and applies before 22 July 2028. Option (b): the person already has Skilled Worker permission in one of these codes, or in the older codes 6145 or 6146. A period of overstaying covered by the Exceptions for overstayers section of Part Suitability is disregarded.

GOV.UK’s Health and Care Worker visa page lists the same two codes, but only for people extending, updating or switching:

If you’re extending, updating or switching to a Health and Care Worker visa, your job can also be in one of the following ‘medium skilled’ occupation codes: 6135: care workers and home carers 6136: senior care workers If you’re switching from a different visa, you must have been working legally in your job for your sponsor for at least 3 months.

Is 6135 on the Immigration Salary List?

Yes. The Immigration Salary List has a row for 6135 and a separate row for 6136, and both rows give 22 July 2028 in the list’s “Removal date” column. The list opens with this sentence:

An occupation is only included on the list where an application has been made using a certificate of sponsorship issued by a sponsor to an applicant before the removal date stated in the table.

In short: an occupation counts as on the list only where the application uses a certificate of sponsorship that the sponsor issued before the removal date in the table.

The 6135 row’s occupation text reads:

6135 Care workers and home carers – all jobs, except jobs with a working location in England are only eligible in this SOC 2020 occupation code where the sponsor holds registration with the Care Quality Commission and is currently carrying on a regulated activity. Eligibility for Skilled Worker applicants to be sponsored in this SOC 2020 occupation code is restricted, as set out in SW 6.1B of Appendix Skilled Worker. Private households or individuals (other than sole traders sponsoring someone to work for their business) cannot sponsor Skilled Worker applicants.

In short: 6135 is on the list, within the limits of SW 6.1B, and in England only where the sponsor holds CQC registration and is currently carrying on a regulated activity. The row also says private households or individuals, other than sole traders sponsoring someone for their business, cannot sponsor Skilled Worker applicants.

The 6136 row reads:

6136 Senior care workers – all jobs, except jobs with a working location in England are only eligible in this SOC 2020 occupation code where the sponsor holds registration with the Care Quality Commission and is currently carrying on a regulated activity. Eligibility for Skilled Worker applicants to be sponsored in this SOC 2020 occupation code is restricted, as set out in SW 6.1B of Appendix Skilled Worker.

In short: the 6136 row has the same wording as the 6135 row on CQC registration and SW 6.1B, without the sentence about private households.

Does a care employer in England need CQC registration?

Your employer must be registered with the Care Quality Commission if you’re a care worker (code 6135) or senior care worker (code 6136) working in England.

SW 6.1C, the paragraph after SW 6.1B, sets out when the requirement does not apply. It covers some people first sponsored under the old codes 6145 and 6146:

If SW 6.1B applies and the applicant: (a) was previously granted permission as a Skilled Worker, sponsored in the SOC 2010 occupation code “6145 Care workers and home carers” or “6146 Senior care workers”, under the Rules in force before 11 March 2024; and (b) since then, has continuously had permission as a Skilled Worker, sponsored in either or both these SOC 2010 occupation codes, or SOC 2020 occupation codes “6135 Care workers and home carers” or “6136 Senior care workers” (except that where the Exceptions for overstayers section of Part Suitability applies, that period of overstaying will be disregarded); and (c) is applying to continue working with the same sponsor as in their most recent grant of permission, the Care Quality Commission regulation requirement for these occupation codes does not apply.

In short: where SW 6.1B applies, the CQC requirement does not apply if all three things are true. The person was granted Skilled Worker permission in the old code 6145 or 6146 under the rules in force before 11 March 2024. They have had Skilled Worker permission in these care codes continuously since then, with a period of overstaying covered by the Exceptions for overstayers section of Part Suitability disregarded. They are applying to continue with the same sponsor as in their most recent grant.

Do care home and support worker adverts offer visa sponsorship?

This is our own count, not a GOV.UK figure. We read 202,073 adverts from employers we match to the Home Office register between 3 October and 1 November 2026, 163,891 of them in full. In care and support, 40.8% of full adverts ruled sponsorship out, against 19.1% of all full adverts. Fewer than 1 in 1,000 care and support adverts offered it (0.03%).

The study does not publish an offer rate for all types of work on the full-advert base, so that cell is blank. Our ‘care and support’ group is a type of work, not an occupation code. It is wider than codes 6135 and 6136. An advert counts as ruling sponsorship out if it says sponsorship is not available, or asks that you already have the right to work in the UK, UK nationality, several years of UK residence or a checkable UK history, or security clearance (SC or DV). Routine right-to-work checks, BPSS and DBS checks do not count. The figures describe adverts, not visa decisions or any one employer.

Our study: visa sponsorship in job adverts, November 2026

Common questions