The Home Office has sent letters to children as young as five, who are living legally in the UK, telling them they must leave the country even if their parents have been granted permission to remain. The Guardian has reviewed five such letters sent to children, as well as a sixth sent to a pregnant woman who is six months pregnant, instructing her to leave her husband and return to her home country. These children are dependants of care worker visa holders, who until March 2024 were allowed to bring their partners and children to the UK.
Impact on Families
Varuni Arachchige, a care worker based in Perth, Scotland, expressed shock at receiving such a letter. She lives with her husband, who works in a factory, and their two children aged eight and five. Both children are thriving at school and settled in their community. Arachchige holds a degree in chemistry, a postgraduate qualification in analytical chemistry from Sri Lanka, and an MSc from the University of Dundee in sustainability and water security. Her husband is a graduate in physical science and double maths. He and their children are dependants on her care worker visa. The family paid thousands of pounds for their visa applications, pay taxes, and do not claim any benefits.
“We have been living legally in the UK since we arrived here on Christmas Day in 2022,” said Arachchige. “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.”
Government Clampdown
The government began tightening family visa rules for care workers after the Home Office estimated in 2023 that approximately 120,000 family members were in the UK, joining 100,000 care worker applicants. From March 2024, care workers have been prohibited from bringing their partners or children to the UK. Additionally, a ban on overseas recruitment of care workers was introduced in July 2025. However, the children who received letters in recent weeks arrived in the UK before these restrictions came into force.
Legal and Workforce Concerns
Lawyers report a rise in such cases over the past few weeks. Two recent surveys of migrant care workers indicate that new proposals to extend the settlement period from five years to a baseline of 15 years could lead to a mass exodus. Tulia Group CIC surveyed 269 migrant care workers, all of whom said the settlement route should remain five years; only 36% said they would stay under longer settlement rules. In a separate survey of 1,162 migrant care workers by Lifted, 69% said they would consider leaving the UK if the 15-year rule is implemented. The current workforce of sponsored migrant carers provides 4.2 million hours of care per week for up to 280,000 people, much of which could be lost if new rules prompt an exodus.
Personal Stories
Rasika Samarasinghe, a care worker who arrived in the UK in October 2022 and earned a master’s degree in business management from Northumbria University, has received a Home Office refusal to allow his dependants—his wife, who works as a teaching assistant, and their three young children aged 12, nine, and eight—to stay. “I don’t know what to do,” he said. “We have done everything legally in this country and we have paid every single tax the Home Office has asked us to pay. I’m not an overstayer, I just want a better future for my children. 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. We haven’t told the children yet. My children are all settled and doing well at school. The youngest only speaks and writes English.”
Legal and Advocacy Responses
Naga Kandiah of MTC Solicitors said: “Migrant care workers in the UK are being placed in an impossible position: to not continue essential work or risk being separated from their children or partners. The result is an unfair choice between vital jobs in the social care system and long periods of separation from family. These workers care for vulnerable people, yet the rules can prevent them from caring for their own families.”
Fizza Qureshi, chief executive of Migrants’ Rights Network, condemned the “go home” instruction to children. “Migrant care workers continually bear the brunt of this government’s disdain for migrants. Nobody should be forced into a decision to either leave their livelihood or be separated from their families. The government really needs to grow a heart and treat migrant workers who are the foundations of our health and care systems, with more respect.”
Home Office Statement
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We will always welcome those who contribute to this country and wish to build a better life here. But we must restore order and control to our 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. 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.”
