- The UK Home Office announced that recognised modern slavery victims on Skilled Worker visas can leave abusive employers without losing their immigration status
- Previously, workers who left an abusive sponsor risked losing both their visa and income, since Skilled Worker visa holders have no recourse to public funds
- The policy change affects care workers and other foreign nationals who came to the UK in good faith but were exploited by rogue employers
The UK Home Office announced that foreign workers on Skilled Worker visas who are formally recognised as modern slavery victims can now leave abusive employers and take up any lawful work for the remainder of their visa period.
The announcement, published jointly by the Home Office and Minister for Migration and Citizenship Jo White, ends a long-standing trap that left exploited workers with a devastating choice: stay with an abusive employer or risk losing their visa and income altogether.
Source: UGC
Because Skilled Worker visa holders have no recourse to public funds, leaving a sponsor previously meant the threat of both destitution and deportation.
The Exploitation That Drove the Change
The Home Office highlighted the case of one woman whose ordeal illustrated how rogue employers weaponised visa dependency.
She paid an agency £20,000 upfront for what she was told would be stable, full-time care work in the UK. Once she arrived, her sponsor demanded £400 a month simply to keep her visa active, while offering little to no actual work.
On the rare occasions work came through, her pay was between £200 and £300 a month. Repeated threats that her visa would be revoked kept her trapped.
Under the new rules, a worker in her situation would be free to leave as soon as the Home Office formally recognises them as a modern slavery victim, and immediately begin working for a different employer.
Crackdown on Rogue Sponsors
Jo White said the government was not only focused on protecting victims but also on pursuing those responsible.
"No one should have to endure the exploitation experienced by victims like this. Today's changes will give victims the freedom to leave abusive workplaces, rebuild their lives and move on from the trauma of exploitation. Rogue sponsors who exploit workers will face the full force of the law," she said.
The Home Office confirmed that more than 6,600 sponsors have been stripped of their licence to hire overseas workers since the current government came to power, which it described as more revocations than occurred in the entire preceding decade.
Over 4,400 of those revocations happened in the year ending June 2026 alone, a 140% rise on the previous year and the highest level on record.
Eleanor Lyons, the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, welcomed the change, noting that she had repeatedly heard from survivors who felt unable to leave exploitative workplaces for fear of losing their immigration status.
Salvation Army Deputy Director Major Heather Grinsted added that financial independence was central to protecting survivors from future exploitation, saying that allowing workers to move to another sponsor for the rest of their visa was a crucial step towards helping them "rebuild their lives safely and with dignity."
The policy forms part of broader commitments in the government's Immigration White Paper, which aims to make it easier for sponsored workers to change employers and reduce dependency on individual sponsors across the Skilled Worker route.
UK posts guidance on long residence
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that UK Home Office updated its Long Residence guidance clarifying who cannot apply for the 10-year settlement route.
A particular category of individuals in the country are specifically told not to apply under Long Residence rules.
Source: Legit.ng