Scrap UK immigration fees for foreign care staff, MAC urges

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), which advises the UK government on immigration matters, has urged Westminster to scrap UK immigration fees for foreign care workers. A MAC report assessing the impact of Brexit on the adult care sector, states that people on UK health and care work visas have to pay ‘significant costs’ to remain in Britain.

The report reveals that the high cost for care workers to remain in Britain is disproportionate to the ‘low wages paid in the social care sector’, and advised that the pay rate for care workers in England should be raised above the National Living Wage, with a minimum hourly rate starting at £10.50.

The MAC said: “Ministers should adopt a string of recommendations as soon as possible to ease the pressure and challenges faced across the social care sector.” The MAC’s report comes amid rising demand for care services, high vacancy numbers and poor conditions of employment compared to other occupations.

Immigration not a silver bullet

However, the chair of the MAC, Professor Brian Bell, said: “Immigration to the UK cannot be a silver bullet to solve the fundamental challenges the care sector faces. Those challenges have resulted from years of underfunding which predate and dwarf any immigration-related factors.”

Professor Bell argued that the government should scrap all UK immigration fees for employers and migrants ‘as soon as possible’, while adding that care workers should remain on the UK’s shortage occupation list – a list of roles deemed by the UK government to be in short supply – for the foreseeable future.

Medical professionals who enter the UK on a health and social care visa can take up an eligible job with the NHS or in adult social care. After five years in the UK, they are eligible to settle in Britain – otherwise known as Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).

However, the fee for an ILR application is £2,389 per person – and dependent family members must pay the same fee. That means a person with dependents who are also applying for ILR will have to pay a large share of their annual post-tax salary in fees, according to the MAC.

UK settlement application fees ‘very high’

The cost of a UK settlement application has long been labelled too high compared to the Home Office cost of processing an application, which was reported as £243 in 2021. The difference between the fee paid by migrants and the cost to process the application is among the highest across the UK immigration system.

The MAC’s report states: “There are also significant costs associated with a migrant becoming settled in the UK. This problem is not specific to care workers, although their low salaries may make the fee less affordable in comparison to other work migrants.”

“We want to encourage dedicated workers in health and social care to remain in the UK. We recommend that workers who spend the full five years working in nursing or care roles on the visa should either receive a complete settlement fee waiver or pay a lower fee, which is no higher than the unit cost of processing. The cost of this recommendation should not be passed on to other visa fees,” the report added.

Fully-funded minimum pay rate

In addition to scrapping UK immigration fees for health and social care visa holders, the MAC has recommended that the government introduce a ‘fully-funded minimum rate of pay’ for care workers in England at a starting level of £10.50 per hour, where care is being provided through public funds.

The MAC’s report said: “One cannot seriously address the workforce difficulties in social care unless pay is improved. Improving pay is essential to boosting recruitment and improving retention.”

“There is no reason why the pay of care workers should rise only when the National Living Wage rises. Indeed, there are clear reasons why relying on NLW uplifts will not address the recruitment and retention difficulties,” the report added.

Immigration Skills Charge

The MAC has also called on the government to remove the UK Immigration Skills Charge, a controversial fee that employers are forced to pay to hire workers – including those on health and social care visas.

According to the MAC, there should be a review of all UK visa application fees to ensure that they are affordable for people on middle and low incomes.

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