UK Visa Proposals Raise Anxiety Among Zimbabwean Health Workers

Proposed UK visa reforms extending settlement timelines have raised concern among Zimbabwean health workers (image source)

HARARE — Proposed changes to Britain’s immigration rules have sparked alarm among thousands of Zimbabwean health and care workers who have migrated to the United Kingdom in recent years, with campaigners warning the reforms could deepen precarity and worsen staffing shortages in Britain’s overstretched care sector.

Official Home Office data show Zimbabwe has become a major source of health and care labour for the UK. Between 2021 and 2023 visa grants surged, with 21,130 Health and Care Worker visas issued to Zimbabwean nationals in the year ending September 2023, up sharply from the previous year.

Under the Government’s consultation proposals, the qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) would rise from five years to 10 years for most migrants, and to 15 years for care workers on the Health and Care Worker route. The changes, if enacted, would extend the time migrants must remain on temporary status before securing permanent settlement.

Opposition figures and migrant rights groups have condemned the proposals. Independent MP Jeremy Corbyn described the plans as an assault on workers’ rights and warned they would have “devastating consequences” for care staff and the sector’s capacity. Corbyn and campaigners say longer settlement timelines risk entrenching exploitation, reduce job mobility and deter overseas recruitment at a time when the UK depends heavily on foreign labour.

critics warn of increased precarity and deeper staffing shortages in Britain’s care sector (image source)

Care sector leaders and migrant advocates also warned that the reforms could exacerbate existing shortages. They pointed to the sector’s reliance on international recruits to fill vacancies and cautioned that making settlement harder would undermine retention and morale.

The Home Office has defended the consultation as part of broader efforts to tighten oversight of sponsor employers and to tackle abuses in the visa route. Officials say recent enforcement action has already reduced approvals for non-compliant employers.

The proposals remain at the consultation stage and must pass further legislative scrutiny before becoming law. Migrant groups and opposition politicians are calling for the retention of the five-year ILR route for care workers, stronger protections against employer abuse and measures to ensure fair pay and decent working conditions for those who staff Britain’s health and social care services.