An 90% drop in health and care visas sounds like bad news – it isn’t.

The latest UKVI immigration statistics dropped earlier this month.  They show a 90% drop health and care visa applications from their peak of 23,000 in August 2023 to just 2,000 in December 2024. 

The health and care visa includes a range of job roles.  From medics, nurses and AHPs to care and support workers and a host of others working across public, private and not for profit health and care. 

Over the same period, dependant visa applications fell 83% and Skilled Worker Visa applications (excluding healthcare) fell to a 3-year low. 

Viewed from any angle, it is a story of quite staggering falls across the piece.  It is also a testament, if that is the right word, to the policies of the previous government.  Policies the current government quietly but happily adopted, before adding significant but unpublicised changes to internal UKVI processes, some of which have now been challenged in the High Court (more on that in a future update). 

At the same time, UKVI have poured resource into enforcement action against sponsor licence holders that are falling short.  The result?  Between Q3 of 2023 and Q3 of 2024 (the most recent period for which data is available), licence suspensions increased more than five-fold and revocations nearly eight-fold. 

Many providers we talk to feel the message is loud clear “just don’t bother.”   Or, that what they need to do is sit tight and put all of their resource into compliance.

It isn’t how it appears.

A significant proportion of the decline is attributable to perception – sponsor licence holders believe things changed so much it is now impossible to continue, so they stop.  In our experience, this is just not the case.   Responsible, diligent sponsors are still getting the people they need. 

But how is any of this good news?

1.        Speed

Fewer sponsors = more capacity.  After more than a year where even simple requests seemed to take months to action, with extra capacity, decisions are being made more quickly and with fewer errors.

Fewer applicants = faster visas.  Visa processing times have reduced significantly, many are now being processed in days. 

Together, this means a more predictable system and that allows providers to keep investment in overseas recruitment in their plans for the future.    

2.        Quality

Last year’s Immigration Rule changes and the more recent process updates are changing the perception around coming to work in the UK.  The perception that the health and care visa was open to abuse was beginning to discourage high quality candidates who felt that they were expected to compete with weaker applicants who could simply pay their way to a job in the UK. 

Robust enforcement action and a high bar for an allocation of COS are restoring the confidence of applicants and driving providers to seek the strongest candidates. 

3.        Compliance

Despite the extra work brought by new rules and processes, they are leading to responsible providers doubling down on compliance, safeguarding both their reputation and the jobs of their overseas colleagues. 

The need to make a more robust case for COS is also encouraging providers to better embed their overseas recruitment strategy into their wider strategic planning, pin-pointing where international recruitment can make the biggest difference and generate the most favourable return.    

4.        Fairness

The figures suggest UKVI is weeding out significant numbers of unscrupulous sponsor licence holders.   Widespread abuse harmed overseas workers and dismayed sponsors.  It prompted many to limit overseas recruitment seeing greater scale as an unpalatable compliance risk.  It dissuaded many providers, often those most in need, from even considering it as an option.

Certainly, there are political gains to be made from aggressive enforcement, but it also ensures trust and confidence in the system, the absence of which has left many providers between a rock and a hard place, torn between a domestic labour market that cannot provide the people they need, and a process for overseas recruitment that seems fraught with reputational and compliance risks.

The Takeaways

The figures only tell part of the story, perception of the system plays a significant role.  There remain challenges in working with UKVI.  Processes can seem opaque, accountability can feel lacking but it feels that a better system is (hopefully) taking shape, a system responsible providers can have confidence in and use to secure high quality candidates now and into the future.   

BA Healthcare

We have been helping clients navigate international recruitment for 25 years, if you need help or advice or want to find out how our comprehensive service can help you build or transform.  Just get in contact. 

BAHealthcare is the care sector’s first-choice partner for overseas personnel.  A British business, led by an Anglo-Filipino team, headquartered in Malaysia with bases in the UAE and Hong Kong, since founding in 2000, we have worked with some of the country’s largest providers and some of the smallest, including specialist services for children and young people.  We have deployed 10,000+ nurses, carers and other professionals – primarily from Filipino ex-pat communities across Asia – to the UK and beyond.  We partner to provide committed, experienced, well-qualified nurses and carers that create thriving, sustainable workforces, and help organisations to strengthen and grow.