Skilled Worker modern slavery and NRM solicitors | Legal aid

If you came to the UK on a Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker visa and your sponsor took your money, withheld your wages, controlled where you lived, kept your documents or threatened you with deportation, you may be a victim of modern slavery. Since 8 October 2026 the law gives recognised victims something it never gave before: the right to leave that employer and work for anyone, in any job, for the rest of your visa. Primus Solicitors holds a legal aid contract for immigration and asylum work, which covers victims of trafficking and modern slavery. We act for sponsored workers across the UK, in confidence, in your language.

Call 0161 222 5860, message us on WhatsApp, or send a free online assessment. The first conversation is free and we tell you straight away whether legal aid applies.

Who this page is for

Care workers and senior care workers, who make up most of the cases we see: more than 7,500 sponsor licences have been revoked by UK Visas and Immigration, about 1,800 of them in the care sector.
Chefs, hospitality and catering staff, retail and warehouse workers, IT, construction and other sponsored Skilled Workers. The new rule applies to every Skilled Worker, not only to care.
Workers whose sponsor's licence has been revoked and who have been told they have 60 days.
Family members of a sponsored worker, whose permission depends on the worker's.
Anyone with an employment problem alongside the immigration one: unpaid wages, deductions, dismissal or a repayment clause. Our employment team deals with the employment law case while the immigration team deals with the NRM and your visa.

The rule since 8 October 2026: work for any employer

Statement of Changes HC 584 inserted paragraph SW 18.3 into Appendix Skilled Worker of the Immigration Rules. A Skilled Worker (including anyone on the Health and Care Worker visa) who:

has been referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), and
has received a positive conclusive grounds decision, and
received that decision during their current period of permission,

has their work conditions amended so that any work is permitted: employment with any employer in any occupation, self-employment and voluntary work. The only exclusion is work as a professional sportsperson or sports coach. The Home Office says the change is meant to encourage victims to come forward early and to deter employers who abuse the sponsorship system.

What the rule does and does not do:

You can leave the exploitative sponsor and take other work for the remainder of your current visa, without a new sponsor and without a change of employment application.
It does not extend your visa. The expiry date stays the same, so a further application is still needed before it runs out.
It does not give access to public funds; the no recourse to public funds condition stays.
It does not lead to settlement on its own. Settlement as a Skilled Worker still requires a licensed sponsor who confirms they need you, and a qualifying salary. Other routes to settlement may apply and we advise on them.
A positive reasonable grounds decision, a referral, or your own account is not enough. The right follows the final conclusive grounds decision, which is why the NRM referral needs to be made early and made well.
The amendment is recorded against your permission so that it shows on your eVisa and in an employer's right to work check. We ask the Home Office to record it as soon as the conclusive grounds decision arrives.

Signs that a sponsored worker may be a victim of modern slavery

Modern slavery covers slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour and human trafficking. It is about control, coercion, threats and deception, not only physical force. The signs we see most often in sponsored work are:

paying thousands of pounds in "recruitment" or "visa" fees to an agent or the employer, for a job with fewer hours, less pay or no work at all;
wages withheld, paid late or reduced by deductions for accommodation, transport, uniforms, training or "sponsorship costs";
a debt the employer says you owe, used to stop you leaving;
your passport, BRP or other documents taken or kept;
threats to cancel your sponsorship, report you to the Home Office or have you deported if you complain or leave;
excessive hours, sleep-ins and shifts you could not refuse, or being moved between businesses or clients without agreement;
accommodation owned or controlled by the employer, often overcrowded, with rent taken from your wages;
being told not to speak to the authorities, a union or a solicitor.

One of these on its own may be an employment law breach rather than modern slavery. Several together, with control over where you live or whether you can leave, often is. We tell you honestly at the first conversation whether your case fits the legal definition, and what you can claim if it does not.

The National Referral Mechanism, step by step

Referral. Only a first responder can refer you: the police, the Home Office, a local authority, or an approved organisation such as the Salvation Army, Migrant Help or Unseen. Solicitors are not first responders, but we prepare your statement and evidence and arrange the referral with a first responder so that your account is complete and consistent from the start. As an adult you must consent to the referral.
Reasonable grounds decision. The Home Office competent authority decides whether there are reasonable grounds to believe you are a victim. This is usually made within days. A positive decision brings a recovery and reflection period of at least 30 days, support under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract, and protection from removal while your case is considered.
Conclusive grounds decision. After the recovery period the authority decides, on the balance of probabilities, whether you are a victim. This can take many months. A positive decision is what gives you the right to work for any employer under SW 18.3, and is the basis for temporary permission to stay.
Temporary permission to stay. Separately, a confirmed victim can apply for permission to stay, for up to 30 months, where it is needed to help their recovery, to pursue compensation, or to cooperate with a police investigation. Proposals before Parliament would narrow this, so timing matters; we advise on it alongside the Skilled Worker options.
Negative decisions. A negative reasonable or conclusive grounds decision can be reconsidered on request with new evidence, and challenged by judicial review. Accounts given under stress are often incomplete or inconsistent; that is a recognised feature of trauma, and medical and expert evidence helps.

If your sponsor's licence has been revoked

When the Home Office revokes a sponsor's licence, the workers it sponsors are normally written to and their permission cut to 60 days, or the remainder of the visa if shorter, to find a new licensed sponsor and apply.

Care workers are now protected from that. Since 14 September 2026 Home Office caseworker guidance says that where a person holds Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker permission as a care worker (occupation code 6135 or 6145) or senior care worker (6136 or 6146), and the only reason to cancel their permission would be the revocation of the sponsor's licence, their permission must not be cancelled. The arrangement is temporary and under regular review, and it does not apply where there is another ground for cancellation, such as a breach of conditions. It protects your status; it does not by itself let you work for another employer. You still need a new sponsor and a change of employment application, or another basis to stay, before your visa expires.

Other Skilled Workers still face the 60-day period. In that time you need a new licensed sponsor, another route, or, if you were exploited, an NRM referral, because a positive reasonable grounds decision protects you from removal while your case is considered and a positive conclusive grounds decision frees you to work.

In England, the Department of Health and Social Care funds regional partnerships (the International Recruitment Regional Fund, 2026 to 2027) that help displaced care workers find a new sponsor, with job introductions, CV and interview support and signposting, and sponsor applications for displaced workers can be expedited free of charge. We tell you how to reach the partnership for your area. Do not keep working for the former employer once its licence is revoked.

Your employment rights are separate

Unpaid wages, unlawful deductions, unpaid holiday, illegal recruitment fees and "repayment" clauses that demand thousands of pounds if you leave are employment law matters. They are claimed in the employment tribunal, with strict time limits, and they do not depend on the NRM. Not every bad employer is a modern slavery case, and a worker whose treatment does not meet the legal definition still has these claims. Our employment team runs them alongside the immigration case. Legal aid does not cover employment claims; we explain the funding options before you commit.

Legal aid: what is covered

Immigration advice and representation for victims of trafficking and modern slavery is within the scope of legal aid once a positive reasonable grounds decision has been made, and advice about the NRM referral itself can be funded where you already qualify for legal aid on an immigration or asylum matter. You must pass the means test; people on asylum support or certain benefits qualify automatically, and a worker whose wages have been withheld will often qualify. See legal aid for immigration and asylum. If legal aid is not available we tell you at the first call and quote a fixed fee instead.

What we do

Assess whether what happened to you meets the legal definition of modern slavery, and tell you honestly if it does not.
Prepare your statement and evidence and arrange the NRM referral through a first responder.
Represent you through the reasonable grounds and conclusive grounds decisions, and challenge negative decisions.
Once you have a positive conclusive grounds decision, ask the Home Office to record the amended work conditions under SW 18.3 on your eVisa so you can start work for any employer.
Advise on your position when your sponsor's licence is revoked, including the September 2026 protection for care workers, and make the application that keeps you in the UK.
Apply for temporary permission to stay, and run any asylum or human rights claim alongside where the exploitation shows a risk on return.
Advise your dependants, whose permission follows yours.
Liaise with the police where a crime is reported, with the employment team on your wages claim, and with criminal defence solicitors where a victim has been forced to offend.

Why Primus Solicitors

Legal aid contract for immigration and asylum, so recognised victims who pass the means test pay nothing.
Solicitors, regulated by the SRA (645182), with the experience of asylum, human rights and trafficking cases that the NRM demands.
Confidential. We do not contact your employer or the Home Office without your agreement. We can meet you with an interpreter of your choice and away from the office.
Your language. English, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Pashto and Farsi in-house; interpreters for others.
Immigration and employment under one roof, so the wages claim and the immigration case are run together.
National. Phone and video for clients anywhere in the UK, in person in Manchester.

Questions people ask

I was referred into the NRM but only have a reasonable grounds decision. Can I work for another employer?

Not yet. The right to work for any employer follows a positive conclusive grounds decision made during your current permission. Until then your conditions are unchanged, so take advice before starting other work. A positive reasonable grounds decision does protect you from removal while the case is considered.

Will the Home Office change my conditions automatically?

The rule is in force, but the change has to be recorded against your permission so that it shows on your eVisa and in a right to work check. We write to the Home Office as soon as the conclusive grounds decision arrives and ask for the amendment to be recorded.

My sponsor's licence was revoked. Do I have 60 days?

If you are a care worker or senior care worker (occupation codes 6135, 6145, 6136 or 6146) and the revocation is the only reason, Home Office guidance since 14 September 2026 says your permission must not be cancelled, so the 60-day letter should not be issued. Other Skilled Workers still get 60 days. In both cases you need a new sponsor or another application before your visa expires, so act straight away.

My visa expires soon. Does a conclusive grounds decision extend it?

No. It only widens what you can do during the permission you already hold. You need a new application before expiry: a change of sponsor, temporary permission to stay as a confirmed victim, or another route. We plan this with you as soon as the decision arrives, or earlier if expiry is close.

I paid an agent thousands of pounds for a job that did not exist. Is that modern slavery?

Not always. Recruitment fraud on its own has often been treated by the Home Office as falling outside the definition, although that approach is being challenged. We look at whether the way you were then treated in the UK brings you within the definition, and at the claims you have against the employer or agent either way.

Can I claim my unpaid wages?

Yes, through the employment tribunal, whether or not you are in the NRM. Time limits are short, so speak to our employment team early.

Will reporting my employer affect my visa?

Reporting exploitation is not a breach of your conditions, and a positive reasonable grounds decision protects you from removal while the NRM decides. The risk comes from working for someone else before the conclusive grounds decision and the amendment are in place, which is why we plan the timing with you.

Is the advice free?

Immigration advice for recognised victims is covered by legal aid for people who pass the means test, and we hold the contract. The first conversation is free, and we tell you then whether legal aid applies.

Contact us

Phone: 0161 222 5860, Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 5.30pm.
WhatsApp: message us and a solicitor replies in working hours.
Online: send a free assessment or ask a question and we reply by phone or email, usually within one working day.
Email: info@primussolicitors.com.

Tell us which visa you hold, who your sponsor is or was, what has happened and whether you have had any letter from the Home Office. You do not need documents for the first conversation. Everything you tell us is confidential.

Our Manchester office and national service

We are at First Floor, 402 Palatine Road, Northenden, Manchester M22 4FZ, open Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 5.30pm, with free parking nearby and the M60 and Wythenshawe tram stops close by. Most clients outside Greater Manchester deal with us by phone and video; we also attend hearings across England and Wales. If you would prefer to meet in person, we can arrange a meeting in your own town by advance arrangement, or away from the office if that is safer for you. We advise in English, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Pashto and Farsi, and arrange interpreters for other languages.