Key Points

• UK plans to phase out care worker visa route soon.

• Nigerians among thousands who may lose migration pathway.

• Policy aims to reduce overall migration by 50,000 annually.

The United Kingdom has announced plans to abolish the care worker visa route, a policy shift that could upend migration plans for thousands of Nigerians and other foreign health workers.

The decision, announced Sunday by UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, forms part of a broader strategy to curb migration and prioritize domestic labor.

The announcement comes amid political pressure following local election gains by the anti-immigration Reform UK party, which is polling ahead of the Labour Party.

Cooper called the current visa system a “failed free market experiment” that encouraged unsustainable overseas recruitment, particularly in low-wage roles.

According to Cooper, eliminating the care worker pathway could cut annual immigration by around 50,000.

However, she refused to commit to an exact target, adding only that net migration “should come down significantly more” than the 500,000 recorded in 2023.

Care sector fears deepens amid critical staffing shortages

Health and social care providers in the UK have raised alarms over the impending changes. Jane Townson, CEO of the Homecare Association, questioned how the sector would cope with staffing shortages if both the funding and visa routes were withdrawn.

“Where will these workers come from if neither the funding nor the migration route exists?” she asked, warning of a potential collapse in services without sustainable workforce solutions.

Cooper acknowledged concerns but urged employers to recruit from the pool of over 10,000 migrants already in the UK under the care worker scheme.

She also said many of the positions taken by foreign workers were either substandard or non-existent.

As a partial remedy, Cooper promised a forthcoming “fair pay agreement” to improve working conditions and wages in the care sector.

Policy shift could derail plans for Nigerian health workers

The UK care worker visa ban is particularly significant for Nigerians, who form a large portion of the migrant care workforce. Over the past few years, thousands have relocated to the UK under this scheme to escape high unemployment and underpaid healthcare roles at home.

With the ban, those dreams could be cut short. The policy shift is expected to limit skilled worker visas strictly to graduate-level roles and introduce more restrictions for non-graduate roles, allowing them only in narrowly defined, time-limited categories.

Meanwhile, measures targeting international students will be less aggressive than expected, though universities must now take on greater responsibility for visa compliance.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp criticized the move as “too little, too late,” blaming the ruling Conservatives for letting migration reach unsustainable levels. He called the 50,000 reduction a “tweak” in comparison to the 900,000 migrants recorded in 2023.

As migration becomes a flashpoint ahead of UK elections, the UK care worker visa ban underscores how geopolitics can reshape lives across continents — especially for nations like Nigeria.