The Home Office has reversed its refusal to allow the family of Rasika Samarasinghe, a Sri Lankan care worker, to remain in the UK as his dependants, offering relief amid mixed emotions over Shabana Mahmood's immigration overhaul.
Samarasinghe, who arrived from Sri Lanka in October 2022 and earns just over £25,000 caring for elderly people, is planning a double celebration. Alongside the settlement change, the Home Office has reversed its refusal to let his wife, a teaching assistant, and their three children, aged 12, nine and eight, remain in the UK as his dependants.
Mixed emotions over immigration changes
After sending the family “go home” letters, the Home Office told them the refusal should be disregarded. The Guardian understands similar decisions affecting other care workers' families have also been reversed.
“I felt so shocked and hopeless when the Home Office said my wife and children could no longer stay here,” Samarasinghe said. “The children are delighted they can stay at school with their friends. Now we can plan our future. I feel free now.” His wife is organising a party for their church friends and everyone who supported them.
Impact on other migrants
The announcement brought relief to many care workers, but others, including partners and former partners of British citizens, face continued uncertainty. Aneisha Williams, 39, a supermarket worker from London, was months from qualifying for indefinite leave to remain after 10 years in the UK, but claiming housing benefit could delay her settlement for years under Mahmood's “earned settlement” plans.
Williams, who married a British man in Jamaica and joined him in the UK in 2016, said: “We were never told this would happen, and never would have taken the help if we did, even though my past situation was very grim. I was due to qualify in a couple of months – now it could be another 10 years.”
Ashley, a civil servant from Sheffield who asked to use a pseudonym, arrived from the US in 2017 and moved to a spouse visa after marrying a British man in 2025. She fears waiting until 2030, by which time she estimates she will have spent £25,000 on visa and healthcare charges. “I'm one of the privileged immigrants – from a white English-speaking country, I have a PhD. I'm married to a British citizen. And it is still so unbelievably hard,” she said.
Care worker concessions and concerns
Under the revised plans, care workers who entered the route before May 2025 and earn at least £25,000 a year can qualify for settlement after five years, rather than the 15 originally proposed. Others face another five-year visa before settlement.
The government began restricting care workers' family visas after the Home Office estimated in 2023 that about 120,000 dependants had joined 100,000 care worker applicants. Care workers have been barred from bringing family since March 2024, and overseas recruitment was banned from July 2025.
Naga Kandiah of MTC Solicitors welcomed the Home Office's U-turn, saying: “This is a hugely significant and positive outcome. This family came to the United Kingdom lawfully … We are delighted that this family can now move forward together with renewed hope, security and peace of mind.”
Amenzei Ogiemwonyia, a care worker who campaigned with the Unison union, said: “We organised and refused to be silent, and that's what the Fairer Visa Campaign was all about: standing up to the rightwing press, lies, propaganda and politics. Some of us are elated – but we still need to read the fine print.”
Campaigners remain concerned. Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol, the chief executive of the Work Rights Centre, called the response, apart from the care-worker concessions, “bitterly disappointing”, and said it was “deeply unfair” that some workers who came expecting a five-year route would now wait 10 years. The Home Office estimates that about 500,000 people will have to wait longer than five years for settlement, which officials say will save billions from the welfare bill.
