UK closes door on Overseas Care Worker Visas: What this means for UAE-based applicants, explained
TL;DR
The UK has stopped issuing new
Care Worker
visas to applicants outside the country as of 22 July 2025.
UAE-based applicants
can no longer apply for care assistant or senior care roles in the UK.
If you're already in the UK, some options still remain, but with strict rules
.
If you're based in the UAE and hoping to move to the UK to work in the care sector, there's been a major change. As of 22 July 2025, the UK government has officially closed the visa route that allowed overseas care workers to apply for jobs under the Skilled Worker visa.
This decision affects care assistants and senior care workers, roles that were previously open to foreign applicants to help fill staffing gaps. Many in the UAE used this path to start a new life in the UK. That option is now off the table.
T
he move is part of the UK's efforts to lower immigration numbers and shift focus to hiring locally. It also comes after concerns about workers being mistreated under this visa route.
Why the Change?
The UK's decision is part of a broader shift in immigration policy aimed at:
Reducing net migration
Curbing exploitation of migrant workers
Prioritising local workforce development
The care worker role had previously been listed as a shortage occupation, making it easier and more affordable to access the UK labour market. That pathway is now closed to new applicants from abroad, including those residing in the UAE.
What If You're Already in the UK?
If you're a UAE resident currently in the UK on a valid visa, you may still be able to move into a care job, but only if you meet the following:
You switch before 22 July 2028
You've worked at your current sponsor for at least 3 months
Your employer can legally issue a new Certificate of Sponsorship
These conditions are tight and designed to avoid misuse of the system.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Indonesia: New Container Houses (Prices May Surprise You)
Container House | Search ads
Search Now
Undo
For
Current Visa
Holders
If you're already working in the UK under a Health and Care Worker visa, you don't need to leave. Here's what you can still do:
Keep working until your visa runs out
Extend your visa, if you qualify
Switch jobs, as long as the new role is eligible
Stay with your family, if they're already included in your visa
But once your visa ends, getting back in for the same type of job may not be possible unless you meet new criteria.
What Other Options Do UAE Applicants Have?
This visa route is closed, but other doors are still open.
1.
Skilled Worker
Visas for Nurses or Allied Health Roles: If you're a qualified nurse or healthcare professional, you can still apply. These jobs are still on the shortage list.
2. Student Route: You can study a health-related course in the UK and then apply to stay under the post-study visa. Later, you might qualify for a Skilled Worker visa.
3. Other Shortage Occupations: Sectors like IT, construction, and engineering are hiring. If you have relevant skills, or are willing to retrain, these may be options.
What This Means for Employers
Care providers will now need to focus on hiring locally. They also have to keep existing migrant workers in line with the new rules.
The government is tightening oversight, and breaking sponsorship rules could mean losing their licence.
What UAE-Based Applicants Should Do Now
If you planned to apply from the UAE under the care worker visa, you need to rethink your plans now. If you're in the UK, talk to an immigration adviser soon. Check your visa status and explore what options remain.
Planning ahead matters, the door is closed for new care worker applications from overseas, but other paths may still be open.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
30 minutes ago
- NDTV
Court Dismisses Turkish Firm's Plea Against Revocation Of Security Clearance
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed a plea by Turkish-based company Celebi Ground Handling India Private Limited against the Centre's decision to revoke its security clearance. "Dismissed," Justice Tejas Karia said, noting that similar pleas were quashed earlier. A different bench of the high court on July 7 dismissed pleas by Turkey-based firms -- Celebi Airport Services India Pvt Ltd and Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India Pvt Ltd -- challenging the revocation of their security clearance by aviation watchdog Bureau of Civil Aviation Safety (BCAS) on May 15, saying there are "compelling national security considerations" involved. BCAS revoked the security clearance days after Turkey backed Pakistan and condemned India's strikes on terror camps in the neighbouring country. During the argument, the company's advocate told the judge that the petition was filed on July 4 after a coordinate bench reserved its judgement in a similar case involving associated companies. The counsel said the July 7 verdict directly applied to the present case as well, and urged the judge to pass a similar order. The court on July 7 underlined the necessity to eliminate the possibility of espionage or dual use of logistics capabilities, which would be highly detrimental to the security of the country, especially in the event of an external conflict.
Mint
32 minutes ago
- Mint
In rare big bet, Indian VC backs local cybersecurity firm's $70 mn fundraise
Palo Alto, US-based cybersecurity platform Safe Security has raised $70 million in a Series C round led by B2B SaaS-focused investor Avataar Venture Partners. According to Tracxn data, this is one of the largest cybersecurity deals to be led by an Indian venture capital firm. 'With the new funds, we're focused on only one thing: product, product and product," company co-founder and chief executive Saket Modi told Mint in an interview. The round, which saw other new and existing investors pin their money and faith in the company, consisted purely of primary investments and no secondaries–in other words, the money went directly to the startup and no existing shareholder sold any stake. New investors in this round included Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital, NextEquity Partners, and Prosperity7 Ventures, while existing investors Eight Roads, John Chambers and Sorenson Capital reiterated their faith in the company with more money. With this fundraise, Safe Security's overall funding has risen to $170 million. While the company's valuation is currently unknown, Modi said that it had 'more than doubled" from their last round, which was a $50-million Series B in 2023. Even back then, the company did not disclose its valuation. Incubated out of IIT Bombay in 2012, Safe Security began with a cyber risk quantification module, which still brings in about two-thirds of its revenue. The rest comes from a new module called autonomous third-party risk management, which it launched in mid-2023. 'In the next one year, I expect our first and second modules to be almost equal," said Modi, adding that a third module is being launched. The third module, according to Modi, would be an agentic artificial intelligence continuous threat exposure management (CTEM) system, which constantly evaluates, assesses and mitigates risks within an organisation's digital environment. Modi said that Safe Security will focus on this new module for the next year. 'We want to stagger it out, but whatever we build, we want to be leading in the market," Modi said. Currently, 90% of the company's revenues come from the US, the UK, and Australia. 'These geographies will continue to be where we get more customers from and we will be investing in go-to-market in these places," he said. Safe Security wants to go public but after a few years of strong growth. 'We should be in a position to be publicly traded in three to four years and when we're nearing that, we can take a strategic call on whether we want to list in India or in New York," Modi said. The company started as a services company named Lucideus but rebranded in 2018 to become product-focused, becoming Safe Security. It caters to Fortune 2,000 companies and generally signs deals that average $175,000. Some of its clients include T-Mobile, SAP, Dell, Chipotle, Canva, Chevron, HP, Google, Netflix, and British Telecom. Small India market Cybersecurity is a complex market, with companies targeting different parts of the value chain. Some that have managed to carve out moats include CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks–which recently acquired CyberArk for $20 billion–FortiNet and cloud security startup Whiz, which was recently acquired by Google for $32 billion. The global cybersecurity market is expected to grow from $234 billion this year to $424 billion by 2030, according to market data firm Mordor Intelligence. Comparatively, the India numbers are small and expected growth is also tepid–from $3 billion in 2025 to $3.4 billion by next year, according to technology research and advisory firm Gartner. 'Indian cybersecurity companies face challenges such as significant price sensitivity among buyers and disqualification due to missing functionality or misaligned pricing expectations," said Apeksha Kaushik, principal analyst at Gartner. 'Clients also cite underutilized existing investments and the added complexity of new solutions as key internal barriers, making it essential for vendors to demonstrate clear value." Jaspreet Singh, Milind Borate, and Ramani Kothandaraman managed to create the only cybersecurity unicorn from India, US-based cloud protection services startup Druva, which was last valued at $2 billion in 2021 after a $147 million Series H round that year. Low investor interest Even the amount of VC and PE deals happening in the sector are few. Between 2020 and 2025, only 29 deals were signed, totalling a puny $195 million, according to data from Venture Intelligence. In the past five years alone, the largest cybersecurity deal also involved Safe Security, which raised $33 million of its $50 million from JC2 Ventures in 2023. The round was led by Sorenson Capital. Even so, foreign companies like Proofpoint, which provides cybersecurity for workspaces like Office 365 and social engineering intrusions, see India as a growing market. The company sees three trends playing out here: the emergence of generative AI, creation of laws like the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and cybersecurity frameworks mandated by regulators like the RBI and finally, enterprise customers looking for more preventive platforms. As a result, the company set up an R&D and threat intelligence centre in Pune this year, hired 250 people and plans to hire more. 'We see India not as an R&D and GCC geography, but as a full-fledged market," said Proofpoint CEO Sumit Dhawan. Currently, most of the company's business comes from the US, which accounts for 72% of its business, with the remaining 28% coming from Western Europe and Australia. Proofpoint is currently in conversation with 50 Indian enterprises. Dhawan said the company has already signed up two of the country's largest BPOs, but declined to name them. 'In my assessment, for the India business to be at par with western Europe, it'll take between 18-24 months," said Dhawan.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Centre's fiscal deficit hits 17.9% of full-year target in Q1; higher spending lifts gap to Rs 2.8 lakh crore: CGA data
Representative image The central government's fiscal deficit touched 17.9% of the full-year target at the end of June 2025, more than double the 8.4% recorded in the same period last year, data from the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) showed on Thursday. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit — the gap between revenue and expenditure — stood at Rs 2.8 lakh crore for the April–June period of FY26. The Centre has pegged the fiscal deficit for the full year at 4.4% of GDP, or Rs 15.69 lakh crore, PTI reported. As of June, the government had received Rs 9.41 lakh crore, or 26.9% of Budget Estimates (BE) for 2025-26. This included net tax revenue of Rs 5.4 lakh crore, non-tax revenue of Rs 3.73 lakh crore, and non-debt capital receipts of Rs 28,018 crore. Transfers to state governments surged to Rs 3.27 lakh crore, up Rs 47,439 crore from a year earlier, as devolution of tax shares accelerated. Total government expenditure in the first quarter came in at Rs 12.22 lakh crore, or 24.1% of BE, with Rs 9.47 lakh crore spent on the revenue account and Rs 2.75 lakh crore on the capital account. Within revenue spending, Rs 3.86 lakh crore went toward interest payments and Rs 83,554 crore toward major subsidies. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist at ICRA, noted that tepid direct tax collections in June weighed on gross tax revenue performance, though the weakness was largely due to an adverse base effect. 'Devolution to states maintained a robust pace,' she added, quoted PTI. Nayar also highlighted that while the Centre's capital expenditure rose 52% year-on-year, this was on a low base and was still 1% lower than Q1 FY24 levels. However, the sharp rise in Q1 capex is expected to have supported investment activity, offering a positive signal for GDP growth in the quarter, she said. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . Discover stories of India's leading eco-innovators at Ecopreneur Honours 2025
