The change was first announced on Christmas Eve and has now been confirmed in a statement of changes to the Immigration Rules, published yesterday.

Employers (but not private households) will be able to sponsor care assistants, home carers, nursing home support workers and similar so long as they pay at least £20,480.

Medical professionals and senior care workers already qualify for what is branded the Health and Care visa, which legally speaking is the Skilled Worker route with lower fees and faster processing. But regular carers were not considered sufficiently skilled to qualify for visas under post-Brexit immigration policy.