Foreign
Care homes close as visa crackdown fuels staff crisis
Care homes struggling to find staff following changes to the immigration system that will not be reviewed by the new Labour Government
Care homes are preparing for a looming staffing crisis following an 81 per cent plunge in visas issued to overseas workers, with some already forced to shut their doors.
The number of health and care worker visas granted fell from 121,290 to 89,095 in the year to June 2024 – a decline of more than a quarter, according to the Home Office.
Visas issued in the three months to June plunged 81 per cent compared with the same period last year – with an accompanying 66 per cent fall in visas issued for dependants.
Care homes warned that changes to the immigration system that took effect earlier this year were making it more difficult to recruit and could lead to more providers shutting their doors.
Since March, care workers have been barred from bringing their spouses and children – also known as dependants – with them to the UK, which the sector said is putting people off from coming to the country.
A senior Home Office source said the Government would not be relaxing rules around health and care visas and would continue with tougher controls introduced by the Conservatives in their immigration crackdown.
“We’re not looking at it again, we’re continuing the restrictions,” they said.
Nadra Ahmed, chair of the National Care Association, a trade body, told i a fall in overseas staff was contributing to a staffing shortage that is affecting people who “desperately need care and support”. The sector has about 130,000 vacancies.
She said about 70,000 people who work in care homes were recruited internationally.
“They are making a huge contribution to our ability to have the capacity to deliver care,” she said.
“It’s extremely worrying that we’ve got decreasing numbers of people who want to come to the UK to support our sector. The rules about dependants have had a huge impact as well.”
She added: “Social homes have already closed and they said it’s because they couldn’t get the workforce.”
Ms Ahmed said she was worried more homes would shut because of the visa changes, saying there are not enough Britons who want to work in the sector and meet the growing demand for care from an ageing population.
She said it is common for care home staff to be paid minimum wage because of limited funding from local authorities, which pay for social care using a combination of funding sources including central government grants and council tax.
“We’d love to pay them more but local authorities’ funding is woefully inadequate,” she said.
Raj Sehgal has been running care homes since 2002
Raj Sehgal, who runs ArmsCare, a group of five care homes with 148 beds around King’s Lynn, West Norfolk, said the visa changes have led to a noticeable decline in applicants from outside the UK.
“We don’t receive that many applications anymore from people overseas,” he said. “It’s primarily those that are looking to either switch jobs now, or those migrants that are not getting the hours that they need in in their current employment. Because they’re already in the UK, it’s a lot easier to switch jobs.”
About half of his staff are migrant workers. He said they “really struggled” to find staff until they started hiring from abroad. Many of his staff members have come from India and African countries.
In 2022 the Conservative government relaxed visa restrictions affecting care workers, which made it easier for operators like Mr Sehgal to fill vacancies.
Without migrant workers, he said occupancy levels had plunged to only 67 per cent of beds, and are now at 93 per cent. “That was at a time when the hospitals were crying out to discharge people,” he said.
“We have job vacancies, as we do all the time in the care sector, as everybody does really, and we advertise them,” he said. “To be quite honest, we do not get a single local application come through.
“If we do get any domestic candidates, generally, they either don’t show for interview, don’t respond any further or, in the last three cases, they’ve lasted probably about 72 hours before going off sick.
“We just don’t get the people coming through.”
He said the Government does not fund social care enough to allow care homes to pay more than minimum wage, which means Britons would rather get the same pay stacking shelves at a supermarket.
Mr Sehgal said he has often employed the spouses of his overseas workers, who also pay taxes and contribute to the economy.
“They don’t come here to sit on their backsides and think, ‘oh, what benefits can I claim’,” he said. “They can’t claim any benefits.”
One of his workers asked if he might be able to find work for her husband, who was deaf, and he now works at the care home cleaning and in the kitchen.
Mr Sehgal, 58, believes it is wrong for the UK to expect people to migrate here for several years and be unable to see their families.
“This is a tsunami waiting to happen,” he said. “The growing need for care in this country is on an exponential trajectory.
“More and more people are needing a more complex level of care every day. At the same time, we’ve got less people willing to look after those people. Something has to give.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Today’s statistics show there is still a long way to go to reduce historically high levels of legal migration. Immigration brings many benefits to the UK, but it must be controlled and managed so the system is fair.
“Work is already under way across Government to tackle the root causes behind high international recruitment, which is still driving up numbers of overseas workers on the skilled worker visa. By linking immigration, labour market, and skills systems we will ensure we train up our domestic workforce and address this shortage of skills.”
South Africa’s anti-immigration group, March and March, has announced September 30 as a fresh deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave the country, as it staged a protest outside the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Durban on Monday.
The group marched through central Durban under the theme, “It’s time to fetch your people,” calling on African leaders attending the 46th SADC Summit to take back their citizens living in South Africa without legal documentation.
March and March had earlier led nationwide protests on June 30, demanding tougher government action against undocumented immigration and warning that its campaign would continue until its demands were addressed.
Announcing its latest action, the group said the September 30 deadline would mark the beginning of what it described as the “mother of all protests”, while urging South Africans to assist the police in identifying undocumented foreigners.
The protest took place as the 46th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government got underway in Durban, with leaders from the regional bloc’s 16 member states in attendance.
The demonstration has renewed debate over South Africa’s treatment of foreign nationals, particularly citizens of other African countries.
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently condemned discrimination and violence against foreigners, saying South Africa could not advocate regional integration at the SADC summit while practising exclusion within the country.
The June 30 protests were accompanied by security operations and reports of attacks and looting in some areas, according to police reports cited in the original report.
March and March has continued to demand tougher action against undocumented immigration, while tensions over the treatment of foreign nationals have prompted some African countries to evacuate their citizens from South Africa.
The latest protest has brought the immigration dispute directly to the doorstep of the SADC summit, placing the issue before regional leaders whose citizens are among those affected.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of a US deal with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, while calling on Tehran to surrender.
Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News journalist Trey Yingst, amid ongoing talks between Oman and Iran over future maritime navigation arrangements through the strategic waterway.
“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump said, referring to the discussions between Oman and Iran as Washington pursues its own negotiations.
Iranian and Omani officials have been holding talks for weeks, with Iran’s Foreign Ministry saying Monday that both sides were working towards a joint declaration on the strait.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Strait of Hormuz is under US control, despite Iran maintaining an effective blockade that has severely restricted maritime traffic.
On Friday, Trump said he could even declare the Strait of Hormuz part of US territory, prompting Iran to insist that the strategic waterway “will remain Iranian.”
Trump also called on Iran to “put up the white flag of surrender,” according to Yingst.
The Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran to the north and Oman to the south, was previously regarded as an open international waterway and carries a significant share of global energy shipments.
AFP
There has been no known deployment of US ground forces in Iran during the Middle East war, with the exception of a rescue mission in April for a downed American pilot.
Hatami did not provide any details on where or when the killing or capturing of US soldiers was expected to take place.
“Anyone who kills or captures and hands over an invading American military personnel will receive a reward equivalent to $30,000 or 5 billion tomans from the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army,” Hatami said, using an informal unit equivalent to 10,000 Iranian rials.
The war between Tehran and Washington began on February 28 after the United States, joined by Israel, attacked Iran. It was followed by an April ceasefire after nearly 40 days of fighting, and a June framework for peace talks that later collapsed.
Iran and the United States have since traded fire sporadically, with fighting mainly centred in southern Iran and around the Strait of Hormuz.
AFP
The family of Philip Ifeanyi Elobuike, an indigene of Eziama Village, Ebe, in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, has appealed to the public for assistance in locating him after his photograph surfaced on social media following nearly two years without contact.
Elobuike first travelled to the United States around 2004 and initially settled in the Los Angeles area of California. He later moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, before relocating to Dallas, Texas.
According to his family, Elobuike remained in contact with his relatives in Nigeria until around 2024, when communication with him suddenly stopped. Before losing contact, he was active on social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
His family had continued searching for him, and on August 11, 2026, they were relieved when his photograph surfaced on social media. The picture provided them with at least some reassurance that he was alive.
Elobuike Philip
However, contrary to reports circulating in some media outlets and on social media, Elobuike has not been reunited with his family or located by his kinsmen in the United States.
His relatives and members of the Nigerian community reportedly spent the entire day on August 12 searching for him in different parts of Dallas but were unable to locate him.
The family is therefore appealing to members of the public, particularly Nigerians and other individuals in the Dallas area, to assist in locating Elobuike and ensuring that he is safely reunited with his family.
The family also urged people to disregard reports claiming that he has already been found and reunited with his relatives, describing such reports as inaccurate.
Anyone who has information about Elobuike’s whereabouts or comes across him is urged to contact any of the following:
Dr. Fred Ngwu: (214) 418-8145
Moses Onyejekwe: (213) 479-2340
Law Okolo: (646) 302-2597
The family expressed appreciation to everyone who has shared his photograph and appealed for continued circulation of the information until he is successfully located.
No fewer than 205 Nigerians were deported from Canada in June 2026 as Canadian authorities intensified enforcement of the country’s immigration laws, according to official figures released by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Immigration removal statistics published by the CBSA showed that 10,607 individuals were removed from Canada during the month, with Nigerians ranking among the top 10 nationalities affected by the exercise.
The figures indicate that Nigerians accounted for nearly two per cent of all removals carried out in June.
India recorded the highest number of deportations, with 3,323 nationals removed, followed by Mexico with 1,573. The United States accounted for 372 deportees, while Colombia and Romania recorded 354 and 293 removals respectively.
Other countries with significant numbers of nationals deported included Bangladesh, with 227, and Pakistan, with 207.
Explaining the rationale behind the removals, the CBSA said enforcing immigration laws was critical to protecting the integrity of Canada’s immigration system.
“Removing individuals who do not have the right to enter or stay in Canada is essential to maintaining the integrity of Canada’s immigration program and to ensuring fairness for those who come to this country lawfully,” the agency stated.
The latest figures underscore Canada’s continued enforcement against individuals found to have no legal right to remain in the country, as authorities seek to ensure compliance with the nation’s immigration laws.
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