There has been a 76 per cent fall in the number of foreign health and care workers applying for UK work visas, new figures revealed on Wednesday.
The number of applications for the route dropped by more than three-quarters in the first four months of this year compared with the equivalent period in 2023.
Some 12,400 requests were made from January to April 2024 compared to 50,900 over the same months the year before, according to provisional government data.
It comes after the Home Office enforced strict new rules on overseas care workers this year in a bid to bring down legal migration to Britain.
Foreign carers were banned from bringing their loved ones to the UK from March 11 in a measure that the Government said would bring down legal migration.
Wage thresholds also increased to £29,000, from £18,600, in April.
The policy has been slammed by opposition politicians, including London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who said it will place an “already-stretched” NHS and social care system under even more pressure.
The Home Secretary has insisted the Government’s plan to cut legal migration levels is “working”.
James Cleverly hailed the latest provisional Home Office data which suggested the number of overseas student and foreign care worker visa applications continues to fall.
Mr Cleverly said: “The plan to deliver the largest-ever cut to legal migration in our country’s history is working.
“This monthly data is the most up-to-date picture of visa levels, showing that on current trajectories legal migration continues to fall across key routes.”
The measures will be kept “under close review” and “if needed, we will not hesitate to go further,” he added.
