It's less than two years since skilled worker visas were opened up to overseas care workers to tackle record staff shortages in the UK.
Many working in social care agree that staff recruited from abroad "saved" the system from collapse.
The recent announcement that care workers will no longer be able to bring their families with them moving to the UK has left care companies fearing that this will put potential recruits off coming over to the UK.
Home Office figures suggest that nearly 144,000 care workers, who arrived in the UK in the year up to September 2023, brought almost 174,000 family members with them.
In a sector where pay is low, finding a better life for their families can be a major motivation for overseas staff to sign up to work in care homes or home care.
Mike Padgham runs five care homes in North Yorkshire. Out of his 225 staff, 32 have been recruited from abroad. He said he was worried that staff already here, who are waiting to bring family over, may leave and other potential recruits may not accept jobs after Home Secretary James Cleverly's announcement.
"I think we are going to find more businesses failing and care homes closing," he added.
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