Care worker visas: Can your partner and UK-born baby stay with you?

By Md Ashraful Alam Chowdhury, MA, LLB (Hons), BPTC (BPP London)

Since 11 March 2024, most care workers and senior care workers have not been able to bring their partners and children to the UK as dependants. The restrictions do not, however, affect every family in the same way.

A child born in the UK may still qualify as a dependant. A partner may also qualify, but generally only where the care worker benefits from the transitional provisions for those who applied in a care role before 11 March 2024. Where the Immigration Rules cannot be met, there may also be exceptional circumstances which justify a grant of permission outside the Rules.

The current position

Care workers (occupation code 6135) and senior care workers (occupation code 6136) sponsored on the Skilled Worker route are generally unable to sponsor a partner or child as a dependant, unless one of the exceptions below applies.

The position became stricter still from 22 July 2025, when the care worker route was closed to new recruitment from overseas. Limited transitional arrangements remain for some workers who are already in the UK, so anyone considering a change of sponsor or route should take advice before acting.

When can a care worker still sponsor a partner?

A partner can apply as a dependant of a care worker or senior care worker where the care worker benefits from the transitional provisions in paragraph SW 29.1A of Appendix Skilled Worker. These include qualifying care-worker applications made before 11 March 2024, even if permission was granted after that date. The care worker must also satisfy the continuity and occupation-code requirements that follow from that grant. Where their history includes another Skilled Worker occupation, the full sequence of permissions must be checked carefully against that paragraph.

A gap in permission is disregarded only if it falls within the Exceptions for overstayers section of Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules. A gap is not ignored simply because it was short. Anyone who has changed sponsor, changed occupation code, or had a gap between periods of permission should have their history checked carefully before applying.

Apart from these transitional provisions, the Rules contain no exception for the partners of care workers. In particular, the birth of a child in the UK does not on its own allow the child’s other parent to qualify as a dependant partner.

When can a care worker still sponsor a child?

A child may apply as a dependant of a care worker or senior care worker where:

• the care worker meets the relevant transitional and continuity requirements in paragraph SW 32A.2(a);
• the child was born in the UK;
• the care worker is the child’s sole surviving parent, or has sole responsibility for the child, and the application is for permission to stay in the UK; or
• the care worker shares responsibility for the child with the other parent, who is also a Skilled Worker sponsored as a care worker or senior care worker (or in one of the other occupations covered by the transitional arrangements in paragraph SW 32A.2(a)), and the application is for permission to stay in the UK.

The last two exceptions are available only to children applying from within the UK, not to children applying for entry clearance from abroad.

What if your child was born in the UK?

Paragraph SW 32A.2(b) of Appendix Skilled Worker allows a UK-born child to apply as the dependant of a care worker or senior care worker even where the parent first applied in a care role on or after 11 March 2024.

The child must still meet the other requirements of Appendix Children. These include the requirement in paragraph CHI 3.2 that both parents either have permission to be in the UK (other than as a visitor) or are applying at the same time as the child, unless an exception applies, for example where one parent has sole responsibility or there are serious and compelling reasons. A child born in the UK must also provide a full UK birth certificate showing the names of their parent(s).

Can your husband, wife or partner stay with you?

The position for partners is more difficult. Where the care worker first applied in a care role on or after 11 March 2024, the partner will generally not qualify for a dependant visa under the Immigration Rules, and Home Office guidance indicates that the partner would need to qualify for permission in their own right.

If the partner already holds valid immigration permission, that permission does not automatically end because the care worker’s circumstances change, although in some situations it may be cut short. The difficulty usually arises when the partner’s current permission is due to expire and needs to be extended.

Before considering anything else, it is important to check whether the partner can remain under a route in their own right. For example, a partner who is sponsored as a Skilled Worker can usually extend on that basis. If that partner is also sponsored in a care occupation, a child of the couple may qualify under the joint-responsibility exception.

A recent case: a family already living in the UK

We recently acted for a married couple living in the UK. The mother works as a care worker on the Skilled Worker route. In autumn 2026, the couple had a daughter, born in the UK, and the father also needed to secure his own position.

Cases like this raise several linked questions. Can the partner qualify as a dependant under the Rules, which depends on the care worker’s own immigration history? Does the child meet the Appendix Children requirements concerning both parents’ status? And, because under paragraph SW 36.2 a child’s permission normally ends with whichever parent’s permission ends first, how do the parents’ expiry dates affect the child?

We made applications for both the father and the daughter to remain as the mother’s dependants. In October 2026, the Home Office granted the father permission to stay as a dependant partner and the daughter permission to stay as a dependant child, with both grants running to the same date.

The outcome illustrates the importance of assessing each family’s circumstances individually, rather than assuming that a partner is excluded. The clients have kindly agreed to our describing their case, and identifying details have been omitted.

What if the Rules cannot be met?

The Home Office has discretion to grant permission outside the Immigration Rules. Its guidance on dependent family members in work routes requires caseworkers to consider an application outside the Immigration Rules where exceptional, compelling and compassionate circumstances are raised on behalf of a dependant who cannot meet the relevant requirements. Being considered outside the Rules is not the same as being entitled to a grant.

Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the right to respect for family life. In addition, section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 requires the Home Office to have regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in the UK, so the child’s best interests must be considered as a primary consideration. Against this, the decision-maker will weigh the public interest in effective immigration control, including the considerations Parliament has set out in section 117B of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.

In a case involving a young child, relevant matters may include:

• who looks after the child while the care worker is at work;
• whether the partner has any other immigration route available to them;
• the practical consequences of separating the family;
• whether family life could reasonably continue elsewhere; and
• the family’s immigration history and any medical or other particular circumstances.

None of these matters guarantees that an application will succeed. The Home Office must consider the individual circumstances and decide whether refusal would unjustifiably interfere with the family’s right to respect for family life.

Every case is different

The date of the care worker’s original application in a care role, and whether their permission has been continuous, can make a substantial difference. So can the care worker’s occupation code, immigration history and the type of permission held by their partner.

Before making any application, it is sensible to check whether the partner can remain under their existing route or qualify under another provision of the Rules. An application outside the Rules may be appropriate in some cases, but it should not be treated as the first option without first considering the alternatives.

Need advice?

If you are a care worker and are concerned about whether your partner or UK-born child can remain in the UK, please contact our immigration team at Morgan Hill Solicitors.

Telephone: 0203 5000 699

Email: info@MorganHillSolicitors.com

Website: www.MorganHillSolicitors.com

This article is intended to provide general information, not legal advice. It reflects the Immigration Rules and Home Office guidance as at 8 November 2026.