Children as young as five are being told to leave the United Kingdom after the Home Office tightened visa rules for migrant care workers, despite some of their parents being allowed to remain legally in the country.
The move has left several families shocked and confused, with parents saying they came to Britain through the proper route, paid thousands of pounds in visa fees, worked legally, paid taxes and built stable lives before receiving letters ordering their children to leave.
The affected children are dependants of migrant care workers. Before March 2024, care workers coming to the UK were allowed to bring their partners and children with them. But the government later changed the rules, stopping many care workers from bringing family members into the country.
The concern now is that some families who arrived before the restrictions came into force are also being affected.
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The UK Guardian reported that it had seen five letters sent by the Home Office to children, telling them they must leave the UK. A sixth letter was sent to a woman who is six months pregnant and lives in Britain with her husband, instructing her to leave him and return to her country.
One of the affected parents is Varuni Arachchige, a care worker based in Perth, Scotland. She lives with her husband, who works in a factory, and their two children, aged eight and five.
Arachchige said the family arrived in the UK on Christmas Day in 2022 and had lived legally in the country since then. Her own visa has been extended by the Home Office until 2031, but her husband and children, who are her dependants, have been told to leave.
“We have been living legally in the UK since we arrived here on Christmas Day in 2022,” she said. “My visa has been extended by the Home Office until 2031. But my husband and children who are my dependants have been told to leave the country.”
Her children are settled in school and in their community, while the family said it has not claimed benefits.
Arachchige holds a degree in chemistry, a postgraduate qualification in analytical chemistry and a master’s degree from the University of Dundee in sustainability and water security. Her husband is also a graduate and works in Britain.
The family said they had paid the Home Office thousands of pounds for their visa applications and had followed the immigration process.
Another care worker, Rasika Samarasinghe, is facing a similar situation. He arrived in the UK in October 2022 and later obtained a master’s degree in business management from Northumbria University.
His wife, who works as a teaching assistant, and their three children, aged 12, nine and eight, have been refused permission to stay in the UK as his dependants.
Samarasinghe said he did not know what to do after receiving the Home Office refusal.
“We have done everything legally in this country and we have paid every single tax the Home Office has asked us to pay,” he said. “I’m not an overstayer, I just want a better future for my children.”
He said the situation had left the family confused and afraid of what could happen next.
“My focus is on family. I can’t do anything without my family. Both my wife and I work very hard here. We are so confused by what has happened to us,” he said.
He added that his children were settled and doing well at school. His youngest child, he said, only speaks and writes English.
Lawyers say they have seen more cases of this kind in recent weeks, raising concerns that other migrant care worker families may also face separation.
Naga Kandiah of MTC Solicitors said the rules were putting migrant care workers in an impossible position.
He said they were being asked to choose between continuing essential work in the UK’s social care system and being separated from their children or partners.
“These workers care for vulnerable people, yet the rules can prevent them from caring for their own families,” he said.
Campaigners have also criticised the Home Office, saying care workers who helped support the UK’s health and social care system should not be treated as if their families are disposable.
Fizza Qureshi, chief executive of Migrants’ Rights Network, condemned the letters sent to children and said no worker should be forced to choose between their job and their family.
She said migrant care workers had become the target of harsh immigration policies despite their contribution to the country.
The government began tightening the care worker visa route after the Home Office estimated in 2023 that around 120,000 family members had joined 100,000 care worker applicants in the UK.
From March 2024, care workers were no longer allowed to bring partners or children with them. A further ban on overseas recruitment of care workers was introduced from July 2025.
But campaigners and lawyers argue that families who arrived before the rule changes should not be caught in the same net, especially where children have already settled into British schools and communities.
The row comes amid wider concern over government proposals to make settlement in the UK harder for migrants.
One proposal would extend the period before some migrants can apply to settle in the UK from five years to a baseline of 15 years.
Two recent surveys suggest the change could drive many migrant care workers out of Britain.
The NGO, which provides support and legal advice to migrants, surveyed 269 migrant care workers. All said the settlement route should remain five years, while only 36 per cent said they would remain in the UK if the settlement period became longer.
In a separate survey of 1,162 migrant care workers by the health and social care platform Lifted, 69 per cent said they would consider leaving the UK if the 15-year rule comes into force.
Campaigners warn that such an exodus could damage the care sector, which already depends heavily on overseas staff.
Sponsored migrant carers currently provide 4.2 million hours of care a week for up to 280,000 people. Critics say the UK risks losing many of these workers if they are forced to choose between their jobs and their families.
A Home Office spokesperson said the government would continue to welcome people who contribute to the country and want to build a better life in Britain.
But the spokesperson said the government must “restore order and control” to the borders.
“We have set out plans for the biggest legal migration reforms in a generation, addressing the challenges caused by unprecedented levels of migration under the previous government,” the spokesperson said.
“It is a privilege, not a right, to settle in the UK and it must be earned, rewarding contribution and those who play by the rules.”
For affected families, however, the policy has become a personal crisis.
They say they came legally, worked hard, paid taxes and followed the rules. Now, some parents say they are being asked to make an unbearable choice: stay in Britain and lose their children, or leave the country and give up the lives they built.
