People who come to the UK to work in the social care sector are to be banned from bringing their children and partners on their visa. The move is part of the British government's plan to slash immigration levels.
The Home Secretary (interior minister) James Cleverly presented the changes to the immigration rules to the UK Parliament on Monday (February 19) – having announced the policy last December – which will see overseas care workers’ loved ones banned from joining them in the country.
Cleverly stated on X that the move was part of a plan to "deliver the biggest-ever cut in migration."
The care worker changes will come into force on March 11, while some other measures, such as increasing the minimum income required to sponsor a partner or spouse, are set to take effect later.
The changes are being introduced because the UK government believes that immigration is too high. Social care workers and their family members are among the main contributors to the recent rise in the overall number of migrants, along with international students, asylum seekers and people coming under humanitarian schemes, migration researchers say.
In the year to September 2023, 100,000 care workers and senior care workers in the UK were accompanied by around 120,000 children and partners, according to the government. Tom Pursglove, the minister for legal migration, said this week the numbers were "disproportionate" and "undoubtedly of concern."
Also read: Rise in non-EU migrant workers employed in the UK
Opposition from migrant groups
Charities supporting migrants are warning that preventing overseas care workers from bringing their families to join them is "dehumanizing" and will result in workers becoming destitute.
After the changes were announced, Dora-Olivia Vicol, who heads the Work Rights Center, said migrant workers already live in precarious situations. "The only thing [it] will achieve is to break up families, scare workers and erode trust," Vicol told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
In the UK Parliament this week, opponents said the move could harm the economy, which is already suffering from staff shortages in the care sector. Several ministers said the ban would deter badly needed migrant workers from coming.
The Scottish paper The National reported that employers in the social care sector have explicitly stated that they rely on foreign workers. Gavin Edwards, the head of the public sector union, Unison, told the paper that care companies "simply couldn’t function" without migrants.
Also read: Families kept apart by UK visa rules
Colin Yeo, a barrister and immigration law blogger, does not believe that preventing care workers from bringing their dependents will cause staff shortages in the sector over the long term. "Plenty will still want to come here without family," he wrote on the social platform X.
Yeo suggests the changes could instead lead to more people coming to the UK from countries with a tradition of emigration for work and sending remittances home to families. After five years, once they are eligible under UK immigration rules, they are likely to send for their children and partners, he wrote, adding:
"In the meantime, we’ll end up with a population of lonely, isolated ghost servants who we know are often exploited…
"There’s a good reason UK immigration policy has until now always been to allow workers to bring their families. It’s because it’s the right thing to do."
Also read: UK: Visa rules tightened as government pledges to get even tougher on immigration
What you need to know
The changes mean that from March 11, 2024, care workers and senior care workers will be unable to bring dependents when they migrate to the UK. The occupation codes affected are SOC 6145 and 6146. The roles covered can be found on the government website.
The ban will not affect care workers’ relatives who are already in the UK.
Only providers in England that are registered by the Care Quality Commission (the regulator for health and adult social care) will be able to sponsor Health and Care Visa applicants.
The increase in the salary threshold for the Skilled Worker Visa does not apply to the Health and Care Visa route.
More information is available on the NHS Employers website.