I'm on a Health and Care Worker visa and my job is at risk

If you lose your sponsored job, or your employer loses its licence, you won't usually have to leave straight away. You usually get time to find a new sponsor. Your employer can't charge you its sponsorship costs.

Open the interactive version

The interactive version is available in 6 languages and Easy Read.

Your rights

• If your sponsorship ends, the Home Office usually shortens your visa to 60 days, giving you time to find a new sponsor.
• To change to a new licensed sponsor by making a new application.
• Your employer can't make you pay the costs of sponsoring you (such as the certificate of sponsorship or the Immigration Skills Charge).
• To be paid for the hours set out in your certificate of sponsorship.
• The same employment rights as every other worker, including the minimum wage, holiday pay and safety.

What to do next

1. Keep copies of your certificate of sponsorship, contract, payslips and any letters.
2. An employer holding your passport, or charging you to keep your job, is a warning sign of exploitation.
3. Look for licensed sponsors on GOV.UK's register of licensed sponsors.
4. If you're being exploited, call the Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline on 08000 121 700. Contact the Work Rights Centre or your union for advice.

Say this

“Please confirm in writing what is happening with my sponsorship, and the date it will end.”

The law behind it (England)

• GOV.UK: Health and Care Worker visavisa rules and switching sponsor
• National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015pay
• Employment Rights Act 1996employment rights

Elsewhere in the UK

Scotland

Immigration rules are the same across the UK.

Wales

Immigration rules are the same across the UK.

Northern Ireland

Immigration rules are the same across the UK.

Last reviewed: November 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. How we check our information.