Sri Lankan families living legally in the UK are among those who have received letters from the United Kingdom (UK) Home Office saying they must leave the country, as the government clamps down on family visas for care workers.
According to a report by The Guardian, at least five children, some as young as five, and a pregnant woman have been issued removal notices in recent weeks.
The families had arrived before new restrictions on care worker visas came into force in 2024 and 2025, yet are now being told to separate or return home.
“We have been living legally in the UK since we arrived here on Christmas Day in 2022. My visa has been extended until 2031. But my husband and children, who are my dependants, have been told to leave the country,” said Varuni Arachchige, a Sri Lankan care worker based in Perth, Scotland. Her two children, aged eight and five, are thriving at school.
Another Sri Lankan care worker, Rasika Samarasinghe, who arrived in October 2022, voiced his distress: “We have done everything legally in this country, and we have paid every single tax. 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.”
The clampdown follows government estimates that 120,000 family members joined 100,000 care worker applicants by 2023. From March 2024, care workers were barred from bringing dependants, and overseas recruitment was banned in July 2025.
Lawyers say cases of dependants being refused have risen sharply. Surveys of migrant care workers warn that extending settlement eligibility from five years to 15 could trigger a mass exodus, risking the loss of millions of weekly care hours.
A Home Office spokesperson defended the policy, stating: “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.”
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/01/home-office-letters-children-care-workers-leave-uk (Newswire)
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