A ticket to care

Care workers who have come to us on overseas sponsorship visas are invaluable to our organisation, reducing staff vacancies and enriching the lives of our homes. We reflect on the contributions of these individuals, the challenges that have been overcome, and the uncertainties we still face due to shifting regulations

When Li, now 25, first arrived at our care home Finborough Court in the Suffolk village of Great Finborough back in March 2023, it’s fair to say it was something of a shock to the system. “I come from Myanmar, from a town called Kalaymyo,” he says. “It’s a large town and feels more like a city. There are lots of people rushing around, and the climate is very hot. Here, it’s very quiet, and it’s much colder. When I first came, I always had to wear a thick coat.”

Language presented a challenge, too. Li’s mother tongue is Siyin, spoken by his ethnic group, and at school he spoke Burmese. Before coming to the UK, he had studied English but he was not confident speaking it day-to-day. “I was very shy at first because it was hard to communicate,” he says.

However, thanks to the warm welcome at Finborough Court, Li quickly began to feel at home. “I enjoy chatting to the ‘family members’ [those who live with us]. There’s one lady, Irene, who I get on well with. She likes to have a joke, and so we tease each other a bit,” he says. “My colleagues were also really friendly and helped me settle in.”

For Li, working as a care assistant is both a rewarding role and also an opportunity to support his family back home – Li’s university education was disrupted by the Covid pandemic (he was studying chemistry) and subsequent political unrest in Myanmar has made finding employment difficult.

Li is one of 82 staff members from overseas currently working across Pilgrims’ Friend Society on a sponsored visa. In a sector beset by staff vacancies, being able to recruit from abroad has made an enormous difference. “As part of our recruitment approach, we always try to recruit locally,” says Camilla Fitsum, HR Manager for Pilgrims’ Friend Society. “We’ll advertise on online jobs boards and make occasional visits to colleges and job centres. However, in some areas we just can’t attract enough local talent.”

A wide range of factors has contributed to the shortage of care workers. Historically, care has not always been recognised as the vocation that it is, with pay failing to keep pace with similar roles in the NHS. The loss of workers following Brexit, the pressures of the pandemic and recent rises in the cost of living have all compounded the problem.

In early 2022, with vacancies in the social care sector standing at around 165,000, the then government added ‘care worker’ to the list of shortage occupations with applicants eligible for a Health and Care Worker visa. Thousands responded to the call and the influx of overseas workers has helped to drive vacancies down – now there are approximately 110,000 vacant posts across the sector.

In our organisation, we’ve welcomed staff from a host of countries, with the highest proportion coming from Nigeria, followed by India, then Zimbabwe, then Nepal. Some hear about our organisation through relatives – Li’s aunt Pum Dim is a senior carer at our care home Framland in Wantage.

At Pilgrims’ Friend Society, recruiting full-time from overseas colleagues to our teams brings a host of benefits. “We find these individuals have a genuine care for older people,” says Camilla. “They come from backgrounds where family is of utmost importance, and they take care of our family members with true love and compassion, as though they were their own.

Many of those who come are also Christian, keen to support the Christian ethos of our homes.”

"They take care of our family members with true love and compassion.”

Whereas before we were relying on agency staff, having full-time team members helps ensure there is continuity of care, enabling information to be shared effectively and the relationships that are at the heart of excellent care to blossom. All our overseas care workers also receive thorough training, including in The Way We Care, supporting a unified approach.

Thanks to overseas workers, we’ve also been able to make significant savings. Across the organisation, the fees paid to external agencies to cover care shifts has fallen by 90% since 2024. The impact of this has been especially pronounced in our more remote locations where there is a shortage in the available local workforce, notably Finborough Court where Li works, and also Luff House in Walton-on-the-Naze. Such savings enable us to steward our resources well, investing in growth and development.

As an employer, we recognise the value brought by individuals who have joined our teams from overseas, with many making the sacrifice of leaving home and loved ones to care for our older people, and we do all we can to ensure they are treated well. One way we do this is by making sure they don’t take on too much, risking illness and burnout.

“When we started employing workers from overseas we found that many were keen to take on lots of over-time, sometimes in excess of 48 hours a week,” says Camilla. “They are very hard-working and didn’t always appreciate how demanding the role can be and the need to rest well between shifts.”

Through working with individuals and their managers, we have helped ensure good working patterns are in place. We’ve also had to keep on top of regulations to ensure that we are acting legally. For example, carers on an overseas sponsorship visas aren’t allowed to pick up shifts in other areas, such as housekeeping or catering. “At times this can be frustrating, both for individuals who want to work and homes when there are gaps, but it’s important that we stay within the rules,” says Camilla.

However, sadly some employers have abused care workers who have come to the UK under the overseas sponsorship scheme. For example, some workers paid thousands of pounds in illegal recruitment fees. Others were housed in unsafe conditions and forced to work unreasonable hours.

In the face of this abuse of the system, between 2023–24 the Home Office revoked the sponsorship licences of 470 care agencies. The measure may have curtailed unscrupulous providers but it also left more than 39,000 migrant carers without a place to work.

Fears around spiralling migration have also contributed to a tightening of measures. In March 2024, the government introduced a restriction preventing prospective overseas care workers from bringing their dependants, leaving some with a painful choice. Then, in July 2025 the government decided to close down the route of overseas workers altogether, with carers no longer meeting the requirement for a ‘skilled job’.

As it stands, providers like us are allowed to recruit workers who are already in the country – currently a large pool as there are still many who came on a visa to work with a company that has since had its license revoked. However, these visas can only be renewed or switched to another sponsoring employer until July 2028. What will happen after that is unclear.

Uncertainties around indefinite leave to remain could also have an impact. Currently, a person needs to have been in the UK on a relevant visa for five years to qualify but proposals have been made to extend this to 10 years. Such a change could affect whether someone chooses to stay in the UK or goes back home.

With already substantial vacancies in our sector, the unpreparedness of a local workforce to step in and an ageing population likely to add further pressure, the prospect of losing much-valued colleagues from overseas looms large.

At Pilgrims’ Friend Society, we’ll continue to champion recruitment in social care wherever we can, both domestically and from overseas, with the goal of ensuring that care workers are treated well, wherever they are from, and that older people receive all the care they need.

Please pray that God would continue to provide us with many wonderful carers like Li.