UK Names 3 Occupations That Restrict Foreign Workers From Bringing Dependants

• The UK government updated its Skilled Worker immigration rules to restrict family visa eligibility for workers in specific occupation codes
• Care workers and senior care workers sponsored from 22 July 2025 are among those who can no longer automatically bring dependants into the country
• Transitional protections exist for workers who held continuous Skilled Worker status before the new rules took effect

The United Kingdom government has updated its Skilled Worker immigration rules to restrict which foreign workers can bring family members into the country, identifying specific occupation codes whose holders no longer qualify for the standard dependant visa route.

Under the revised framework, a Skilled Worker must be sponsored in a role listed in Table 1, Table 2, or Table 3 of the Appendix Skilled Occupations to be eligible for a dependent partner or child visa.

Workers sponsored in occupations outside those tables cannot access the family route.

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Care and prison workers specifically excluded

Three occupation codes have been singled out under the updated rules. Workers sponsored under SOC 2020 code "6135 Care workers and home carers" and SOC 2020 code "6136 Senior care workers" are excluded from the family visa pathway. SOC 2020 code "3314 Prison service officers (below principal officer)" is also affected, though workers in that category may still apply for permission to remain under limited conditions.

These restrictions apply to workers granted entry clearance or permission under rules that came into force from 22 July 2025 onwards.

Transitional protections for existing workers

Workers who secured their Skilled Worker permission before the latest changes may retain family visa eligibility, subjects to meeting specific continuity requirements.

A worker originally sponsored under the older SOC 2010 codes "6145 Care workers and home carers" or "6146 Senior care workers" before 11 March 2024 remains eligible, provided their Skilled Worker status has been continuous since that grant.

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Workers granted permission under any SOC 2020 occupation code listed in Table 1a, Table 2aa, Table 2a, or Table 3a before 22 July 2025, and excluding the two care codes cited above, can also retain family visa eligibility as long as there has been no break in their Skilled Worker status.

Any period of overstaying that falls within the exceptions outlined in the overstayers section of Part Suitability will not be counted against continuity.

The same conditions apply when a child applies for a visa as a dependant of a Skilled Worker parent. The parent must satisfy the same occupation code and continuity requirements for the child's application to be considered.

The changes represent a significant narrowing of access to family migration for workers in the care sector, a group that had been actively recruited from abroad in recent years to address chronic staffing shortages across the UK's social care system.

UK university opens 2027 scholarships

In other developments, YEN.com.gh reported that the University of Bristol in the UK had opened applications for its Think Big Scholarship programme.

The university has committed up to £5 million to the scheme for the 2027 intake, with awards available at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Source: YEN.com.gh