Coronavirus: Home Office urged to grant automatic visa extensions to care workers as well as NHS staff

MPs are calling on the Home Office to extend its decision to grant automatic free visa extensions to NHS frontline workers to people working in the social care sector, arguing that they are working to aid the national effort to combat coronavirus.

Home secretary Priti Patel announced two weeks ago that, as part of the national effort to combat coronavirus, NHS doctors, nurses and paramedics whose visas were due to expire before October would automatically have their visas extended, free of charge, for one year.

Yvette Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, welcomed the decision, but has written to the immigration minister requesting that care workers should also be included in the changes, so that they do not have to go through a “costly and burdensome” visa process during this time.

It comes after The Independent reported that non-British care workers felt they had been “forgotten” following the Home Office’s announcement that NHS staff would be granted free visa extensions.

Concerns have been raised in recent days about the true scale of the impact of coronavirus in care homes and the extent of the pressures being placed on staff, after the number of deaths recorded in care homes is expected to have risen considerably, while staff also report shortages of PPE, a lack of testing, and challenging working conditions.

The letter states: “As you know, workers in social care are also on the frontline of the national effort to combat coronavirus, working very long hours in extremely difficult conditions and putting themselves at risk to save lives [...]. Given the pressure and personal risks so many care workers are facing as they contribute to the UK’s national effort to combat coronavirus, they shouldn’t have to face added costs and pressures from the UK visa system as they do so.”

The adult social care workforce includes 134,000 staff with non-EU nationality, with 109,000 of those employed in direct care. Some of those individuals will have visas due to expire before 1 October and will be subject to many of the same intense pressures facing NHS workers.

Shantel Murray, 27, a Jamaican care worker who has been in the UK for 20 years and is saving to apply for an extension of her leave to remain next month, which will cost her £2,100, said the policy was “unfair”.

Ms Murray, who lives in Yardley, said: “What’s the different between a nurse and me? We’re both doing the same job, we’re working in the same kind of environment. Why can’t we get the same treatment? We’re on the frontline too, we’re putting ourselves at risk as well.

“I wanted to do nursing but I couldn’t because I couldn’t afford overseas student fees, so I decided to be a care worker and I’m working hard. Right now I’m doing all I can to help the community. But I just feel so undervalued.”

Ms Murray said her job had been considerably more stressful since the coronavirus outbreak started, due to staffing shortages and fear that she could be exposed to the virus, particularly after a resident at the care home tested positive and had to be placed in self-isolation.

“We’ve had agency staff come in because some of our staff have had to go self-isolate. It’s really stressful. It’s like doing double work because the agency workers aren’t familiar with how things work. It’s too much,” she said.

“I’ve got to be extra careful because if I can’t go to work I won’t get paid. I used to do extra agency shifts, but I’ve had to stop doing them because I can’t afford to put myself at risk of catching it.”

Ms Cooper told The Independent: “Given the pressure and personal risks so many care workers are facing as they contribute to the UK’s national effort to combat Coronavirus, they shouldn’t have to face added costs and pressures from the UK visa system as they do so.

“We owe huge thanks to those who have come from abroad to work in our care system as well as our NHS and who are on the frontline of the coronavirus crisis in the UK, saving lives, preventing infection and caring for those who are ill.”

A government spokesperson said: “The government recognises the huge importance of the health and social care sector, who are providing vital services following the coronavirus outbreak.

“We have already extended the visas of NHS frontline workers whose visas expire in the next six months and we are working with NHS Trusts across the whole of the UK to identify who will benefit.

“We will continue to work to see if we can assist other frontline workers during this crisis.”