Health and Care Worker visa applications fall 58% in year to April 2026
19 May 2026
If you hold a Health and Care Worker visa, new government statistics confirm how much the route has contracted. In the year ending April 2026, there were 11,000 main applicant applications, down 58% from 26,500 in the year ending April 2025. That puts numbers 93% below the peak of 161,600 recorded in the year ending November 2023.
Several policy changes drove the decline. The Home Office applied "more scrutiny to employers in the health and social care sector" from late 2023, which triggered the initial drop. The government then raised "skill level requirements to RQF level 6 or above" and moved to "ending overseas recruitment for care workers," meaning new international recruits into care roles can no longer use this route. Dependant applications also fell, dropping 24% to 39,600 in the year to April 2026, partly because of "restrictions on dependants of care workers that were introduced in March 2024."
If you are already in the UK on a Health and Care Worker visa, this statistics release does not announce any changes to your existing leave or your path to ILR. If you are overseas and hoping to apply for a care worker role, the end of overseas recruitment means that option is no longer available under this route. For clinical and healthcare roles at RQF level 6 or above, the route remains open but the higher skill threshold applies.
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