Plans for Britain to end the recruitment of care workers from abroad have been introduced in Parliament as part of a raft of immigration reforms.
New rules laid out on Tuesday also raise salary and skills thresholds up to degree level for skilled foreign workers, cutting eligibility for 111 occupations.
Migrants coming to Britain on a Skilled Worker visa will have to earn £41,700-a-year, up from £38,700, under the proposals.
A new time-limited temporary jobs shortage list will be introduced until the end of 2026 for below degree level jobs, where recruiting foreign workers is key to building critical infrastructure.
But these people will no longer be able to bring loved ones to Britain with them and they will not be entitled to salary and visa fee discounts.
These are the first rule changes to be introduced as part of the government’s Immigration White Paper, which aims to cut the number of people coming to live in the UK from abroad, and if approved by MPs and peers they will come into force from July 22.
In a statement, Migration Minister Seema Malhotra said: “The key change is raising the threshold for Skilled Worker visas from occupations at Regulated Qualifications Framework level 3 and above, approximately A-level skills, to occupations at RQF level 6 and above, mainly graduate professions.
“Salary requirements for work visas are being raised in line with the latest Office for National Statistics data, ahead of an upcoming thorough review of salary requirements (including discounts) by the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “We are delivering a complete reset of our immigration system to restore proper control and order, after the previous government allowed net migration to quadruple in four years.
“These new rules mean stronger controls to bring migration down, to restore order to the immigration system and to ensure we focus on investing in skills and training here in the UK.”
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Further measures from the White Paper such as increasing English language requirements and raising the immigration skills charge are also expected to be in place by the end of the year.
The move aims to bring down immigration, clamp down on abuses of the system and end a reliance on cheap foreign labour.
Home Office estimates indicate that changes from the plan could reduce the number of people coming to the UK by up to 100,000 per year, when looking at eight of its proposals, including study and work routes and the higher level of English language requirement.
But the move to scrap care worker visas has sparked concerns from the sector, with GMB national officer Will Dalton describing the decision as “potentially catastrophic” as the care industry was “utterly reliant on migrant workers”.
The sector has more than 130,000 vacancies across the country.
The Home Office believes there are 40,000 potential members of staff originally brought over by “rogue” providers who could work in the sector while UK staff are trained up.
Transitional arrangements for overseas care workers already in the UK have also been set out on Tuesday, according to the department.