‘Abused’ visa workers can now walk away from their sponsors in the UK
Key Points
- Recognised modern slavery victims are no longer tied to their visa sponsor.
- They can take any lawful work for the rest of their Skilled Worker visa.
- One care worker paid £20,000 and earned as little as £200 a month.
- Over 4,400 sponsor licences were revoked in the year to June 2026.
- The Anti-Slavery Commissioner and The Salvation Army welcomed the change.
The Home Office has freed modern slavery victims on Skilled Worker visas from their sponsors. Once the Home Office formally recognises a worker as a victim of modern slavery, they are no longer tied to a specific sponsor and can take up any lawful work for the rest of their visa.
Victims who left an abusive sponsor previously risked losing their immigration status and their income at the same time. Skilled Worker visa holders have no recourse to public funds, which left many facing destitution if they walked away.
The change applies across the Skilled Worker route, including care workers who came to the UK in good faith and were exploited by rogue employers.
The Home Office cited one victim who paid an agency £20,000 for what she believed was stable, full-time care work. Her sponsor instead demanded £400 a month to keep her visa active while providing little or no work.
She struggled for months to pay rent and support her family while facing repeated threats that her sponsor would cancel her visa. When work finally arrived, her sponsor paid her as little as £200 to £300 a month.
“No one should have to endure the exploitation experienced by victims like this,” said Jo White, Minister for Migration and Citizenship.
“Today’s changes will give victims the freedom to leave abusive workplaces, rebuild their lives and move on from the trauma of exploitation,” she added.
“Rogue sponsors who exploit workers will face the full force of the law,” White said.
The government has stripped more than 6,600 sponsors of their licence to hire overseas workers since coming to power, including the victim’s former employer.
Over 4,400 of those revocations came in the year ending June 2026, a 140% rise on the previous year and the highest level on record.
The Home Office said it would refer sponsors to the police where it identifies evidence of criminality.
The change forms part of the government’s Immigration White Paper, which committed to making it easier for sponsored workers to change employer and reducing their dependency on individual sponsors.
“I have heard repeatedly from survivors how they became trapped in abusive employment, fearful that leaving could put their livelihood and immigration status at risk,” said Eleanor Lyons, Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.
“No victim of modern slavery should have to remain with an abusive employer,” Lyons said.
The Salvation Army also backed the change, saying financial independence was one of the key ways to protect survivors from further exploitation.
“Allowing survivors to work for another sponsor for the remainder of their visa is a crucial way to help them rebuild their lives safely and with dignity,” said Heather Grinsted, deputy director for anti-trafficking and modern slavery at The Salvation Army.
