Between 2022 and 2024 the Health and Care Worker visa brought tens of thousands of Filipino care workers to the United Kingdom. On 22 July 2025 that door closed to new overseas applicants, and nothing in the rules as they stand in October 2026 reopens it. This page states the closure precisely, explains the in-country exception that runs to 2028, and sets out what a care provider can still recruit from the Philippines — and where else in Europe Filipino care workers can be hired lawfully.
The Statement of Changes HC 997 closed entry-clearance applications for Skilled Workers sponsored as care workers and home carers (SOC 6135) and senior care workers (6136) from 22 July 2025. The Explanatory Memorandum is explicit: new applications from outside the UK are closed; in-country switching continues for a transition period to 22 July 2028; the worker must have been legally working for the sponsoring provider for at least three months before the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned; providers in England must be registered with the Care Quality Commission; and no partner or child visas are issued for these codes. The codes remain on the Immigration Salary List to 22 July 2028 for that in-country purpose only. A Filipino caregiver in Manila therefore has no UK route in 2026 — not at a higher salary, not through a different sponsor, not with a different job title.
Since 22 July 2025 the Skilled Worker route is a graduate-level route: a role must be at RQF 6 unless it sits on the Temporary Shortage List or the Immigration Salary List, and both lists apply only to Certificates of Sponsorship issued before 31 December 2026 (last issue date 30 December 2026) unless the Government renews them. Pay must reach £41,700 a year or the going rate for the occupation code, whichever is higher; Immigration Salary List roles qualify from £33,400 plus the going rate, and nurses and other listed health occupations on national pay scales from £25,000 plus the going rate. The salary counted is basic gross pay for up to 48 hours a week — no allowances, overtime, bonuses or payments towards immigration costs — and since 8 April 2026 it must be met in every pay period. New applicants prove English at CEFR B2. The sponsor pays the Immigration Skills Charge of £1,320 a year (£480 for small sponsors and charities) and may not recover it. Workers sponsored in sub-graduate roles on either list cannot bring dependants, and the Government has consulted on lengthening the path to settlement from five years to ten or more, without deciding at the time of review.
Registered nurses remain fully sponsorable on the Health and Care Worker visa — reduced fee, no health surcharge, dependants allowed — under the nursing codes 2231 to 2237, subject to NMC registration and the English test; nursing homes with a registered-nurse establishment recruit Filipino BSN nurses as they did before, and the Philippine side runs under the 2021 UK–Philippines memorandum. Residential, day and domiciliary care managers (1232) are a sub-degree code that remains sponsorable only through the Immigration Salary List (going rate £40,400) for Certificates of Sponsorship issued before 31 December 2026, without dependants; allied health professionals — physiotherapists, occupational therapists, radiographers — are sponsorable with HCPC registration. Senior care workers cannot be re-labelled as managers: the Home Office tests the job against the code's duties, and a mismatch costs the sponsor its licence.
Ireland set a quota of 1,495 General Employment Permits for care workers and home carers in May 2026 at a sub-standard rate of €32,691, with a QQI Level 5 qualification required at renewal after two years; Denmark admits social and health care helpers on the Positive List under a quota of 1,000 without Danish authorisation, and the Denmark–Philippines care MoU initialled on 11 December 2025 (not yet signed) foresees a government-to-government track of up to 100 nurses a year from the second half of 2027; Finland recruits care assistants and practical nurses through the Supervisory Agency pathway with Finnish language training; in Croatia care workers (njegovatelj) are not on the HZZ exemption list, so the 15-day HZZ labour-market test applies; Malta exempts health and care roles from the Jobsplus vacancy rule. For a UK group with operations in Ireland, or for operators comparing European markets, these are the routes we run — each on its own country page.
Recruitment runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024): your company is accredited at the Migrant Workers Office at the Philippine Embassy in London, which has jurisdiction for the United Kingdom and Ireland, the job order is registered with the DMW, and every worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate. Recruitment follows the employer-pays principle: no applicant pays for an interview, a trade test or a place on a shortlist, and UK sponsor guidance itself forbids passing the Immigration Skills Charge or the sponsor-licence costs to the worker. Your company is the sponsor and the employer from day one; we never employ or lease the workers.
Everything here is subject to the Immigration Rules in force on the day the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned (Appendix Skilled Worker, Appendix Skilled Occupations, Appendix Immigration Salary List), Home Office sponsor guidance, the professional regulators and Philippine DMW rules.
No. Entry clearance for care workers and senior care workers closed on 22 July 2025; only workers already in the UK can switch, until 22 July 2028.
No. It applies to workers already in the UK with permission, after three months' legal work for the sponsoring provider, and ends on 22 July 2028.
Yes — registered nurses on the Health and Care Worker visa with NMC registration; see the nurses page for the salary rule, the fees and the OSCE calendar.
Ireland (quota of 1,495 at €32,691), Denmark (SOSU helpers, quota of 1,000), Finland, Croatia (after the HZZ labour-market test) and Malta — each with its own country guide on this site.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.