MHA and UNISON warn a 15-year visa wait risks bringing back agency bills

A care charity and a union want the five-year wait to stay

A care charity and a trade union are asking the Home Office for the same thing: leave care workers' wait for settlement at five years.

UNISON General Secretary Andrea Egan visited MHA Willowcroft care home in Derby to hear directly from sponsored care workers about the government's proposed 'earned settlement' changes. Under the Home Office's November 2025 consultation (opens in a new tab), care workers and senior care workers would face a 15-year baseline wait for indefinite leave to remain, against a new standard of 10 years and five today.

MHA's argument is about money. It ties its sponsored workforce to lower agency bills, which makes the settlement rules a cost question for any provider that employs sponsored staff, and a market question for the councils that commission care from them.

MHA knows what the last staffing crisis cost

At the height of the post-Covid workforce crisis, MHA's agency staffing costs rose by 37% to £30 million, according to MHA chief executive Sam Monaghan (opens in a new tab). Since then, Monaghan said, the charity has recruited more than 700 sponsored colleagues to keep care consistent and manage costs.

Put those two facts side by side and the warning follows. If sponsored workers decide a 15-year wait is not worth it and go elsewhere, providers fill the gaps the way MHA did before: with agency staff who cost more and give residents less continuity.

Any provider that has made the same switch is exposed in the same way. The saving from sponsored recruitment lasts only as long as those workers stay.

The ask goes beyond the five years

MHA and UNISON also want a sector-wide visa that lets care workers move between employers, and a fully funded Fair Pay Agreement.

A portable visa would change the deal for employers. A worker would no longer be tied to one sponsor, so providers would have to compete harder to hold on to sponsored staff.

No answer, no date and no count of who is affected

The government has not yet answered the MHA and UNISON call, and no date has been set for any change. Nor is there a count of how many sponsored care workers would face 15 years rather than 10.

The 15-year baseline covers roles skilled below RQF Level 6, the group care workers and senior care workers fall into. MHA's figures are one charity's experience, and its warning is a forecast rather than a measured result.

MHA got through the last crisis by paying for agency staff. For every provider that has since come to rely on sponsored workers, the question is whether a 15-year wait sends them back there.