New Home Office caseworker guidance will provide better protection for some care workers from having their UK immigration permission cancelled if their sponsoring employer loses its sponsor licence. The Home Office has made a temporary provision for adult social care workers whose employers have had their sponsor licences removed.
The modification is in the current version of the “Cancellation and curtailment of permission” guidance for Home Office caseworkers, issued in September 2026. The advise confirms that in some cases it will not be appropriate to cancel a care worker’s immigration visa simply because their sponsor’s licence has been revoked.
What’s the difference?
The Immigration Rules generally provide for the cancellation of a Skilled Worker’s or other sponsored worker’s permission if their sponsor has ceased to possess a valid sponsor licence.
Paragraph SUI 34.1 states that a person on routes including the Skilled Worker route may have their permit withdrawn where their sponsor does not hold a sponsor licence. However, the amended caseworker guidance now allows a specific interim arrangement for some adult social care professionals. The guidance says caseworkers should not cancel a person’s authorisation if:
the person has permission under the Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker route; they are working as a care worker or senior care worker; and the only basis for cancellation would be the revocation of their sponsor’s licence.
The Home Office identified the appropriate profession codes as follows:
SOC 6135/6145 Home support workers and home carers
SOC 6136/6146 – Senior care personnel.
What’s the significance?
This move is especially important because losing a sponsor licence might leave an overseas worker in a very unclear immigration position. In the regular sponsorship system, a worker’s immigration permission is strongly linked to the firm that sponsors them. The Home Office can usually look to propose cancellation under SUI 34.1 where the sponsor’s licence is lost. The new guideline recognises that workers in the adult social care industry might be affected by regulatory action taken against their employer even where the worker itself has not committed an immigration infraction.
The Home Office has taken tough measures before to crack down on sponsors in the care sector. Government records published in 2025 said that between July 2022 and December 2024, more than 470 sponsor permits in the care industry were cancelled, covering more than 39,000 workers since October 2020.
The new scheme therefore provides a substantial level of protection to impacted workers while they are facing the consequences of their firm losing its licence.
This does not mean that the visa is automatically preserved in every case
This is a significant aspect, the new arrangement is limited. The Home Office guidance makes clear that the arrangement is temporary and subject to regular review. Crucially, the protection applies where the primary basis for cancellation is the revocation of the sponsor’s licence. If there is another basis for cancellation, the Home Office must treat cancellation as normal.
For example, the guideline specifically highlights scenarios where a worker’s permit may be terminated because they have left employment, changed jobs without the requisite immigration permission, or no longer fulfil key standards. As such, workers covered by this guideline should not take it for granted that they have an unrestricted or indefinite right to remain in the UK, whatever their circumstances.
The bigger context: big changes for immigration for care workers
This comes after big changes to the UK’s immigration system for adult social care professionals. In July 2025 the government stated that foreign recruiting for care workers will be ended, with transitional measures allowing certain persons currently in the UK to continue transitioning into the pathway for a limited duration. The government also made broader adjustments to the Skilled Worker system, including raising the standard skills threshold to RQF Level 6.
The present Immigration Rules nevertheless offer transitional measures for those care workers and elder care workers who already have the required permission. This means that the new sponsor-revocation guideline is of particular relevance to persons currently in the UK under the Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker routes.
If a care worker is affected they should:
The new guidance does protect against cancellation on grounds of sponsor licence revocation alone, but impacted workers should not sit on their hands.
A worker whose sponsor has lost its licensing should set up:
whether their sponsor’s licensing genuinely has been revoked, or just suspended or otherwise restricted.
The SOC code stated on their immigration documents and Certificate of Sponsorship.
Whether their immigration authorisation still valid.
If they have received correspondence from the Home Office about cancellation or curtailment.
Whether they need to obtain a new licensed sponsor and apply to amend their immigration status.
The Health and Care Worker guideline affirms that a worker can seek to update their visa when changing employer. GOV.UK guidance states that workers moving job or employer will normally need to meet the necessary immigration requirements.
Temporary protection, not a permanent immigration route
“Temporary arrangement” is one of the most crucial parts of the statement. The Home Office has said there is no permanent exception from the sponsor licensing restrictions for care workers. Instead it has told caseworkers not to revoke permission of qualifying workers where the revocation of the sponsor licence is the only grounds for cancelling. The advice further notes that the arrangement will be under regular review. This means that the position could alter in the future and workers affected by sponsor licence revocation should continue to watch official Home Office instructions and take appropriate steps to regularise their employment and immigration position.
What does this mean in practice?
The current Home Office guidance makes a key distinction, between the sponsor’s immigration compliance and the worker’s personal immigration standing. Where a care or senior care worker has permission to be in the UK under the Skilled Worker or Health and Care person route and the person’s sponsor’s licence is revoked, the worker should not have their permission to stay in the UK cancelled for this reason alone under the new temporary arrangement. But the protection is not absolute. Other grounds for cancellation may still apply and the arrangement itself may be subject to revision.
So the message is important for international care workers, but one to be read with caution. Loss of a sponsor licence does not, in itself, automatically mean that qualifying care workers will have their current immigration authorisation cancelled. The latest advise from the Home Office is on GOV.UK and you should check for subsequent updates as the arrangement is clearly temporary. Always seek the help and assistance of a solicitor.