Opposing The 15-Year Route

Care workers came here on a five-year promise. The Government is proposing fifteen.

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‍We surveyed 1,162 sponsored care workers about the proposed settlement reforms. Their responses suggest a policy that would not just slow international recruitment - it would risk reversing it.

Read the full report here | Respond to the consultation here

‍The numbers

• ‍69% would leave or consider leaving the UK
• ‍4.2M+ care hours per week at risk
• ‍15 years for care workers - vs 5 for nurses, 10 for everyone else

A three-tier system, by occupation

The Earned Settlement Consultation has been reported as a shift from a five-year to a ten-year route. In practice, it creates three tiers - and care workers sit at the bottom.

Occupation Route to settlement

• Nurses 5 years
• All other workers 10 years
• Care workers 15 years

Under the current proposals, a volunteer in a care home could reach settlement before a professional care worker who has spent a decade looking after the same residents.

"The most common reasons given for leaving were family separation costs, visa and dependant fees, and a loss of trust in the terms under which they came."

_{Lifted survey of 1,162 sponsored care workers, December 2025 - January 2026}

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What the report sets out

Lifted is not seeking a special exemption for care workers. The report calls for parity - that care workers be treated on the same terms as every other occupation in the UK. It makes four recommendations:

1. Remove the 15-year carve-out. Apply the 10-year route that will apply to every other occupation.
2. Protect those already in the UK. Workers who arrived under the 5-year promise should complete that route.
3. Recognise care work as skilled and essential. Parity with nurses where the role is clinically comparable, and a clear route for progression.
4. Publish an impact assessment. Modelled workforce loss, hours of care at risk, and the effect on older and disabled people.

The consultation is still open. There is still time for the evidence to inform the final policy. Three things you can do now:

• Download the full report
• Respond to the consultation
• Write to your MP

Press and partners: Lifted can provide journalists, MPs and policy stakeholders with direct access to care workers, providers and families. Rachael Crook, CEO, is available for interview. Contact rachael@liftedcare.com.