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Government to ban overseas recruitment for the UK care sector

It's been called a 'crushing blow to an already fragile sector'.

Emily Sergeant - 12th May 2025

The Government has announced its intentions to end overseas recruitment into the care sector across the UK.

It’s just one of the measures outlined in the Government’s Immigration White Paper, which was announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Parliament today, and is aiming to ‘take action’ to bring down historically high levels of net migration.   

According to the Home Office, care workers from overseas have made a ‘huge contribution’ to social care in the UK for several decades, but too many have been subject to shameful levels of abuse and exploitation.  

Overseas workers in the sector arrived in the country to find themselves saddled with debt, treated unfairly, or in extreme cases, even discover the jobs they were promised did not exist.

Immigration has played a key role in the success of the UK and our services.

But we cannot ignore the facts.

The system does not work.

Care workers have been widely exploited through the immigration system which is why we are closing new applications from abroad.

— Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) May 12, 2025

More than 470 care providers had their licence to sponsor international staff suspended since 2022, the Home Office revealed this month – which is why the Government ultimately wants to ‘put an end’ to any more overseas recruitment.

The crackdown on ‘rogue care providers’, as the Government called them, has seen around 40,000 workers displaced, many of whom are ready to rejoin the workforce, and under the plans outlined today, it’s said that they will be given the opportunity to ‘do the jobs they were promised’, while long-term plans are drawn up to train homegrown talent into the care sector.  

International workers who are already sponsored to work legally in the sector, however, will still be able to continue to extend their stay, change sponsors, and apply to settle.

“Together, these measures will move the UK away from a dependence on overseas workers to fulfil our care needs,” the Government said in a statement.

Despite the plans announced today being received well by some, they have been met with some criticism from industry figures – with Care England describing it as a ‘crushing blow to an already fragile sector’.

“The Government is kicking us while we’re already down,” explained Professor Martin Green OBE, who is the Chief Executive of Care England.

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“For years, the sector has been propping itself up with dwindling resources, rising costs, and mounting vacancies. International recruitment wasn’t a silver bullet, but it was a lifeline, and taking it away now, with no warning, no funding, and no alternative, is not just short-sighted, it’s cruel.”

Featured Image – Kampus Production