The Daily Mail reports that large numbers of family members are still entering the UK on the back of care-worker visas, despite government efforts to curb the practice. In the year to March 2026, the Home Office granted just 12 health and care visas to workers from Cameroon, yet issued 180 visas to family members from the country — a ratio of 15 dependants for every worker. The Conservatives described the figures as "shocking", and the article frames them as evidence of continuing failings in the skilled-worker visa system.

High dependant-to-worker ratios were also recorded for other countries: more than eight per care visa for Ghanaians, more than five for Bangladeshis and more than four for Indians. The Home Office cautions that dependants do not necessarily relate to a specific new worker, and that many may be joining care staff who arrived years earlier when far more migrant care workers were admitted. Care workers were banned from bringing family members in 2024, with the restriction later extended to most migrant workers unless they hold a degree-level job, but those who arrived before the curbs can still bring dependants.