UK lets modern slavery victims on Skilled Worker visas change employer from October — a shift that could help exploited Nepalese care workers

The UK Home Office's Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules (HC 584), published 3 September 2026 and taking effect 8 October 2026, allows Skilled Worker visa holders formally recognised by Home Office Competent Authorities as modern slavery victims to work for any employer, including self-employment, for the remainder of their visa. Previously, such workers remained tied to the sponsor who may have exploited them. UK Visas and Immigration has revoked more than 7,500 sponsor licences to date, including 1,800 in social care, with a 140% rise in care-sector revocations in the year to June 2026 — a sector in which Nepalese nationals are heavily represented.

The change does not raise salary thresholds or introduce the wider "earned settlement" overhaul once expected; those remain unaddressed. Nepalese care workers who believe they have been exploited should seek advice from the National Referral Mechanism or a regulated immigration adviser — this is not an automatic or retrospective protection.