Care workers and the transitional arrangements
Updated 2 November 2026
The government has scrapped its proposal for care workers already in the UK to wait 15 years. Instead it has created a targeted one-off arrangement.
Who qualifies for 5 years
Care workers who entered, or switched into, the route before publication of the Immigration White Paper in May 2025 keep the existing five-year qualifying period, if they meet:
- the £25,000 a year salary requirement,
- the sponsorship and employment requirements, and
- the strengthened general requirements, including English and criminality.
If you do not meet the requirements
You will not qualify after five years. But you can apply for a further five-year Health and Care visa, restricted to genuine work in the sector, to give you time to meet the requirements before applying again. You will continue to have no recourse to public funds.
If your sponsor loses its licence
The government acknowledges that some care workers lost their sponsor through no fault of their own. From 1 February 2027, care workers who lose employment because the sponsor licence was removed will have up to 120 days to get a secure job offer and a further 60 days to resolve their visa and employment status. If they cannot, their visa will be curtailed.
After May 2025
People entering or switching afterwards qualify through the standard 10-year pathway. The government estimates around 6,000 care workers and 5,000 dependants fall into that group.
Scale of the cohort
The government estimates 196,000 care workers and 186,000 dependants are in the settlement forecast. Indicatively, around 146,000 care workers could qualify for the transitional arrangement and around 50,000 would need further sponsorship.
Source: A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: Government Response to the Consultation (CP 1707), November 2026, chapter 8 and Annex A.
General information only. This is not immigration advice and is not affiliated with the Home Office or GOV.UK. Rules may change and guidance is still to come. For advice on your own case, speak to an OISC-regulated adviser or a solicitor.
More guides
- Earned settlement explained: the UK's new settlement rulesThe 3, 5, 10 and 20-year pathways and the mandatory requirements
- Earnings thresholds and the "best years" ruleThresholds, best years, household income and exemptions
- Which visa time counts towards settlementCounting routes, non-counting routes and the end of Long Residence
- Public service occupations that qualify for 5-year settlementThe Annex C list of eligible health and education occupations