On 24 December 2021, the Department of Health and Social Care announced that certain categories of care workers would be added to the Shortage Occupation List, and therefore become eligible to apply for a 12-month health and care worker visa as of early 2022.

The announcement comes after the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), an independent public body which advises the government on migration issues, highlighted in its annual report that it was becoming more difficult for care providers to recruit and retain workers. One of the reasons for this is that, after, Brexit care workers can no longer be recruited as before from the European Economic Area. In that same report, the MAC recommended that the UK government make care workers and home carers immediately eligible for the health and care worker visa, as well as adding these occupations to the Shortage Occupation List, a list of occupations where the UK government believes employers are facing a shortage of labour.

A health and care worker visa allows medical professionals to come and work in the UK in a job with the NHS, an NHS supplier or in adult social care. At the moment, only senior care workers can apply for a health and care worker visa. The government’s announcement, however, means that care assistants, care workers, carers, home care assistants, home carers and support workers (nursing home) will soon become eligible to apply for this visa.  Adding these occupations to the Shortage Occupation List means that employers can sponsor care workers at a minimum salary of £20,480 per year, which is lower than the minimum salary threshold normally needing to be met for a health and care worker visa.

The government has stated that this is a temporary measure in place for 12 months, while the care sector copies with the ongoing pandemic, after which it will be reviewed. While the government states that a health and care visa will offer care workers a route to indefinite leave to remain if they remain employed and wish to remain in the UK, future Home Office guidance would have to clarify how this would be possible if care workers were to be later removed from the Shortage Occupation List and no longer eligible to apply under the health and care visa route. The government has not yet updated its rules and guidance on the health and care visa route to account for care workers, although they are likely to remain similar to the ones currently in place.

If you require immigration advice in relation to the issues above, we would be happy to help.  Care providers who are looking to recruit care workers from overseas would need to hold a Home Office licence allowing them to sponsor under the health and care visa route, and we would be happy to advise about these issues too. Please do not hesitate to contact us on 020 7401 6887 or by email at contact@gryklaw.com.

The so-called “prestigious prize” visa route was launched in May of this year and was intended to make it easier for academics or researchers to apply to come to the United Kingdom.  At the time of the launch of the visa, the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, stated:

Winners of these awards have reached the pinnacle of their career and they have so much to offer the UK. This is exactly what our new point based immigration system was designed for – attracting the best and brightest based on the skills and talent they have, not where they have come from.

It has been widely reported in the Press recently that not a single scientist has applied under the fast track visa route which was intended for prize award winners in science, engineering, the humanities and medicine.  Many scientists have been dismissive of the scheme stating it is far too narrow and would only allow a tiny handful of talented people to apply.

But does the Global Talent visa allow people who are not necessarily at the ‘pinnacle’ of the scientific world or creative world to apply?  The answer to this is a resounding ‘yes’.

The Global Talent visa allows people who are leaders in their field or potential leaders in their field to apply and be endorsed by a designated endorsement body such as Tech Nation, the British Academy, the Royal Society for Science and Medicine, or Arts Council England.  The beauty of the visa is that an individual does not need to be sponsored by their employer and has access to the labour market in the United Kingdom as an employee or on a self employed basis.  So for example, academics can work at a university without being tied to them.  Actors, performers and musicians can develop their careers in the United Kingdom, supporting themselves for example through teaching. Those endorsed by Tech Nation may have technical skills or business skills in the field of technology and can come here to develop businesses or run their start ups.  In short, a large number of people are able to qualify, even if they are towards the beginning of their careers.

The process is a two stage process: an applicant initially applies to the endorsement body and if endorsed can then apply for a visa.  This is a category which leads to indefinite leave to remain, although of course there are some criteria that need to be fulfilled before that is possible, including showing that you have worked in your field of expertise in the United Kingdom.

So despite the off putting headlines that nobody has been granted a fast track visa and that you have to be unbelievably talented and experienced, this does not paint the full picture.  Successful cases for Global Talent visas have ranged from applicants just leaving university, to people who are well established in the field in which they have built their career.  If you fall within the remit of one of the endorsement bodies, it may well be worth you looking at the criteria which they assess against to see if you may be eligible.

We have expertise in submitting applications to the various endorsement bodies and are able to guide applicants through the process.  If you would like to discuss a possible application with us further, please do not hesitate to contact us on 020 7401 6887 or contact Alison@gryklaw.com

Clients often ask whether they can continue to work while an application is outstanding.  The answer is generally yes, provided that they were permitted to work before and made a valid in-time application.  This is because leave is automatically extended by law while an in-time application is pending.

Leave is also extended if the application is refused and the person submits an in-time appeal or application for administrative review.  The person’s leave only falls away once the appeal rights or the administrative review is no longer pending.

When leave is extended in this way it is called “section 3C leave” after the provision of the Immigration Act 1971 which sets out the mechanism for leave to continue.

Section 3C leave is incredibly important because it keeps people here lawfully.  It prevents a person from losing their job or an entitlement to access NHS treatment free of charge.

Earlier this year the Court of Appeal looked at what happens to section 3C leave when a person lodges an appeal out of time.  For example, a person normally has 14 days to lodge an appeal against the refusal of an in-country application for leave as the partner of a British citizen.  If the person who has section 3C leave lodges the appeal in time, their section 3C leave will continue while the appeal is pending. What the court looked at is what happens if the appeal is late.

The Court of Appeal concluded that section 3C resurrects from the date the appeal papers are lodged, provided that the Tribunal later grants the person extension of time for the lodging the appeal papers.  In late October 2021, the Home Office updated its guidance to reflect this.  This is available at 3C and 3D leave – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

This development may be very useful for individuals and families who have missed an appeal deadline but were previously lawfully present with section 3C leave.  Provided the Tribunal grants the extension of time, they will become lawfully present again from the date the appeal papers were lodged.  This does not, however, assist those who lodge late appeals and did not have section 3C leave at the date the application was refused.

If you require immigration advice in relation to the above, we can help.  Please contact us on 020 7401 6887 or by email at contact@gryklaw.com.