URGENT visa reforms are essential to prevent the care sector from collapsing, Unison warned today.

New official data has revealed a sharp fall in visa applications by overseas health and care workers and their family members.

The number of applications plummeted by 78 per cent from 359,300 in 2023/24 to 80,700 in 2024/25, Home Office figures show.

The decline likely reflects changes to migration rules introduced by the previous Tory government, which included a ban on overseas care workers bringing family dependants.

The drop fed into an overall 37 per cent decline in people applying for key visa routes across worker, study and family categories.

Applications covering 772,200 people were submitted in the year to March 2025, compared with 1.24 million in the previous 12 months.

Unison’s head of social care Gavin Edwards stressed that overseas workers are “propping up” Britain’s social care sector and urged ministers to rethink their approach.

“They play a vital role in delivering care to elderly and disabled people who’d otherwise struggle to get the help they need,” he said. “The care sector is desperately short of staff.”   
 
He argued that visa restrictions are behind the fall in the number of applicants, not a lack of vacancies.

“Reforms are needed urgently so the government has control over visa sponsorship,” Mr Edwards added. “This would stop unscrupulous employers from threatening staff with dismissal or deportation.
 
“A fair pay agreement, a national care service and more funding are also vital to drive up standards and encourage staff to stay and attract new recruits.”

Dr Ben Brindle, researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: “The tightening of immigration rules under the previous government has led to a sharp decline in visa applications over the past year.

“This was driven primarily by a fall in applications from health and care workers and students’ family members — most of whom now cannot come to the UK.”

Labour introduced new rules this week requiring care providers to prioritise hiring international care workers already in England before recruiting from abroad, a move which it claims will also tackle exploitation.

Other Home Office figures show an 11 per cent dip in sponsored study visa applications.

The number of applicants for skilled worker visas also decreased by 16 per cent compared with the previous year.

Former Tory PM Rishi Sunak’s government significantly increased the salary threshold for skilled workers to £38,700.