They came to the UK to build better lives for their families and to work and contribute to British society. And they came with the promise that, after five years of playing by the rules, they would have the chance to get settled status.

Now, many on the skilled worker visa – some of them only months from reaching that milestone – face having it snatched away from them under government plans to retroactively double the baseline period qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain to 10 years; plans they say amount to changing the rules of the game while the ball is in play.

Such people have faced great challenges and personal hardships just to get this far. Kushani Suraweera left behind a stable life in Sri Lanka to come to the UK and work as a senior care worker in October 2023 – taking the first step on the five-year pathway to settled status in her new home country.

Her children came with her and started school, while her husband stayed behind to look after relatives – aiming to follow his wife and children when he could. Tragically, he died suddenly after a stroke in September 2024 while in Sri Lanka.

“At that time, our UK visas were in the renewal process,” Suraweera said. “Leaving the UK would have risked disrupting our immigration status and my children’s ability to remain with me.

“As a result, I was unable to travel to attend my husband’s funeral. This was an extremely painful experience for our family; particularly for my children, who were unable to say goodbye to their father according to our cultural traditions.”

Suraweera said she was left with a “lasting sense of guilt and unresolved grief”, adding: “My husband died alone in the home we had shared. Because I had moved to the UK to build our future under the skilled worker pathway, help reached him too late.”

She said being unable to return to say goodbye had “left a sense of incompleteness that is difficult to put into words”, adding: “Grief normally needs presence, ritual, and community. Immigration restrictions meant I experienced loss at a distance, while continuing to work and care for my children here.”

Suraweera said she and her husband had planned their family’s future around the promised five-year pathway – and that they relocated to the UK in good faith. But the proposed changes have “created significant uncertainty about our future”.

She said: “The possibility of a much longer period of temporary status creates ongoing instability for families like mine, particularly for children who are growing up and being educated in the UK.”

Deepa Natarajan and her husband, Vinoth Sekar, are about eight months away from being able to apply for settled status, but their immigration status is a bar to accessing some of the fertility treatment they need. If they are forced to wait several more years, Natarajan fears their chances of ever having a family may slip away.

“For us, this is not simply a policy change,” Natarajan said. “It directly affects one of the most personal aspects of our lives; our ability to start a family. After years of living and contributing to the UK, these uncertainties are already causing significant emotional and personal strain.”

Natarajan and Suraweera are members of the Skill Migrants Alliance, which has indicated it intends to take legal action should the government press ahead. Labour has stressed it is still consulting on the plans, and no final decisions have been made.

After Labour’s defeat to a progressive rival in the Gorton and Denton byelection, the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has been urged to curb some of the hardline immigration changes. But she has vowed to press on, with sources dismissing claims the plans would further alienate Muslim voters as “plain wrong”.

Natarajan urged ministers to reconsider. “Immigration rules should not place families in a position where they must choose between maintaining lawful status and pursuing the opportunity to have children. Behind every policy decision are real families and real lives. We are one such family, and we ask to be treated with fairness and compassion.”

James Theje Gunatilake spoke of the anxiety the proposals have prompted. He and his wife used up their savings to move their family from Sri Lanka. “We arrived in the UK without extended family support and had to rebuild our lives from the beginning.”

As with others, they were told they would have a chance to apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years. He and his wife have worked legally and become part of a community. And they have raised their children to integrate into British society, they said.

“We are not seeking special treatment. We simply want stability and a fair pathway forward after the sacrifices we have made to build a lawful life in the UK.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “This government makes no apology for cutting net migration by 70% and tightening rules to restore control of the border. We have raised the skilled worker salary and skills thresholds to degree level and closed loopholes which enabled misuse of the immigration system.

“We are focused on ensuring people who come to the UK make a full contribution and give more than they take. This government is putting in place a structured, evidence‑led approach covering skills, migration and the wider labour market.”