The United Kingdom Government has changed its immigration rules to allow recognised victims of modern slavery on Skilled Worker visas to leave exploitative employers and take up work elsewhere without losing their immigration status.
The UK Home Office announced the change on Thursday, saying it was intended to prevent victims from becoming trapped in abusive employment arrangements because of their visa conditions.
“No victim of modern slavery should be trapped with an exploitative employer because of their immigration status,” the Home Office said in a post shared on X.
It added, “From today, recognised victims on Skilled Worker visas can leave abusive employers and work elsewhere without risking their immigration status.”
The change is contained in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules: HC 584, published by the UK Government on Thursday.
According to the memorandum, the Skilled Worker route is designed to enable people to work in a specific job sponsored by an employer.
Under the previous rules, Skilled Worker visa holders could not normally take up other employment if they were no longer working in the job for which they were originally sponsored.
However, the latest amendment to Appendix Skilled Worker removes that restriction for workers who have been identified by the Home Office Competent Authorities as victims of modern slavery.
Such recognised victims can now work for any employer for the remaining duration of their existing immigration permission.
The Home Office said the measure was introduced to encourage victims to report exploitation at an earlier stage instead of remaining with abusive employers because of concerns about their immigration status.
The government said the change would also help protect vulnerable workers from employers who might seek to exploit the sponsorship system.
The memorandum stated that the measure would “incentivise victims to come forward early” while guarding against those who “seek to weaponise the sponsorship system in order to exploit vulnerable workers.”
The exemption applies specifically to Skilled Worker visa holders who have been formally identified by the Home Office Competent Authorities as victims of modern slavery.
Those who meet the requirement can work for another employer for the remainder of the immigration permission they already hold, rather than being restricted to their original sponsored employment.
The wider Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules, HC 584, includes several other amendments covering areas such as domestic abuse, the EU Settlement Scheme, student maintenance requirements and the United Kingdom’s planned participation in the Erasmus+ programme.
The government said guidance on the changes would be updated and published on GOV.UK when the relevant amendments take effect.