Online tool by Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Autonomy Institute allows care workers to more easily find a new employer
Emiliano Mellino, a journalist at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, announced on X today that a new online tool is now available that will help migrant care workers find companies that are licensed to sponsor visas.
Image credit: UK GovernmentThe Care Visa Sponsor Database can be accessed at https://autonomy.work/care-visa-sponsor-database/.
It was developed with the Autonomy Institute and was created by combining data from the Home Office's list of all visa sponsors with the Care Quality Commission's (CQC's) register of regulated services.
Emiliano Mellino explained on X: "It addresses a need that came up time and time again when [we] were talking to care workers. Care worker visas are tied to their employers, meaning that if they are fired, if they quit or if the Home Office takes enforcement action against the employer and revokes its sponsor licence, they lose their right to stay in the UK.
"Thousands of care workers who came to the UK to fill vital shortages in the care sector have been told by the government they have 60 days to find a new visa sponsor or leave the country, under threat of deportation and prosecution. … They often put in hundreds of applications only to find the companies they applied to are not licensed to sponsor visas.
"While a government database of visa sponsors exists, it is unwieldy and does not differentiate between sectors. So early on in our investigation [we] developed Python code which would combine the government sponsor database, with the CQC database of registered care providers."
By using the new Care Visa Sponsor Database, care workers can search by postcode and find the companies nearest to them.
Mellino added: "If you are a care worker or a frontline advisor who has been using it, let us know what your experience has been like. Hopefully this can be developed further to better address the need for more transparency in the sector."