Hundreds of civil servants at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) could be forced to leave the UK due to “cruel” visa rule changes, The i Paper has been told.
At least 1,500 benefits and JobCentre staff from overseas are no longer eligible for skilled visas, says the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, which represents government workers.
Foreign nationals working at the DWP told The i Paper they felt “heartbroken” and betrayed. They had expected to move on to skilled worker visas and settle in Britain once their current graduate visas had ended.
Labour MPs criticised the “reckless and self-defeating” Home Office visa rules – warning of a staffing crisis at the DWP as the Government tries to implement major changes to benefits and work schemes.
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer faces a backbench rebellion on immigration, although on Sunday he hinted that some reforms could be watered down. The Prime Minister and his Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, have angered MPs over plans to extend the time it takes for migrants to get settled status.
Benefits staff and work coaches fall foul of rule changes
Foreign nationals working in relatively low-paid roles at the DWP – in customer support, benefits processing and as work coaches – have fallen foul of visa rules changes.
The increased salary thresholds made under the Conservatives in April 2024 had already caused some of the department’s lowest-paid staff to leave the UK, the PCS said.
However, further changes announced by Labour in July 2025 have affected more staff from overseas.
Labour raised the eligibility for skilled worker visas to degree-level jobs only. The visa category known as 4111, for low-level administration roles, was removed.
It means that the DWP can no longer sponsor its own staff who are doing jobs not considered to require degrees.
Many of the foreign nationals started their DWP jobs on two-year graduate visas, expecting that they would be able to move on to skilled workers’ visas later.
But they now face the prospect of having to leave the UK. Staff, whose names have been changed to protect their identities, told The i Paper about having their career hopes dashed.
‘The changing of the goalposts is crazy and unfair’
Miriam*, a DWP admin worker from West Africa, has been working for the department for almost two years. She earns under £33,000.
Her graduate visa is set to run out this year. Without any route to a skilled worker visa, she is preparing to leave the UK.
“It is really frustrating. I had hopes of building a career here. My parents sacrificed a lot for me to come to the UK, and it feels like I will be going back with nothing.
“There has been so much anxiety,” Miriam added. “It’s disappointing and depressing. The job is actually really good. I have enjoyed it and I wanted to contribute.”
David*, another DWP admin worker from West Africa, has a graduate visa that runs out in 2027.
He also fears that he will have to leave the country if he cannot find a new, higher-skilled job elsewhere that meets visa requirements.
“We have established our lives here,” David told The i Paper. “We are not asking for special treatment. We are only asking for stability and fairness.
“The constant changing of the goalposts is crazy. It’s unfair. It is leaving people who are contributing to the UK economy heartbroken.”
David said he was disappointed in the DWP. “The department is not ready to come up with any solution. They don’t seem to be fighting for us.”
‘Cruel’ loss of talent in months ahead, warns union
The PCS has previously highlighted the case of Farouq Ahmed. He had to leave his DWP admin job and return to Nigeria in May 2025 because he failed to meet the £30,960 salary threshold in place at the time.
In July 2025, Labour raised the general salary threshold for jobs on the immigration salary list to £33,400. It made it even more difficult for some DWP staff to meet the requirements.
At least 1,500 DWP workers could be forced to leave the UK because of the removal of the 4111 visa code and raised salary thresholds, according to the PCS’s estimate.
Relatively few will be able to move into higher-skilled jobs, union officials fear, leaving the vast majority at risk of exiting the UK when all their graduate visas run out by the end of next year.
Dozens of foreign civil servants at the department have already had to leave the UK in recent months, said union officials.
“These staff members have studied in the UK, invested in their futures here, and are already contributing to essential services,” said PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote.
“Forcing them to leave is not only cruel, it’s a loss of talent and investment the UK can’t afford.”
Buket Erdogan, a senior solicitor at Ashton Ross Law, said the removal of the 4111 code is one of the “most notable casualties” of Labour’s July 2025 visa rule changes.
The immigration specialist said she knew of admin workers in the private sector who had been forced to leave the UK recently, adding: “It’s effectively an informal deportation.”
Labour MPs warn of ‘weaker and slower’ benefit services
The potential disruption to DWP staffing comes as Labour ministers push on with plans to reform benefits and job coaching schemes in a bid to get more people into work.
Labour MP Andy McDonald said the prospect of the DWP losing hundreds of frontline benefits workers and work coaches was “completely self-defeating”.
The MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East said changes made in July 2025 “unfairly penalise” people doing vital jobs – “effectively telling low-paid public servants they’re not welcome”.
Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East, said the visa changes were “a dreadful injustice to dedicated public servants”. And Kim Johnson, Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree, said the Government’s “reckless” rule changes “deepen an already severe staffing crisis”.
She said the frontline DWP staff play a crucial role “yet ministers seem content to force them out, leaving services weaker, slower, and with devastating consequences for the people who rely on them”.
The Home Secretary wants to double the time it takes for migrants to get indefinite leave to remain in the UK from five to 10 years.
Some foreign workers, like those on health and social care visas, will have to wait 15 years for permanent residency.
Tony Vaughan, MP for Folkestone and Hythe, sent a letter to Mahmood signed by 100 Labour backbenchers criticising the proposals for “moving the goalposts”.
Former deputy PM Angela Rayner joined the rebellion by attacking the move as “un-British”. Starmer and Mahmood are thought to be considering whether they will have to water down the plans.
McDonald told The i Paper the earned settlement proposals “risk doubling down” on the “injustice” of the visa rule changes.
Johnson also called for a U-turn. “The Government must think again and stop pandering to the toxic immigration rhetoric we’re seeing from the far right.”
However, Reform UK has questioned why government departments need to sponsor workers from abroad to join the civil service.
“The priority of the DWP should be getting British people into work, not relying on visa schemes to staff the benefits system,” said a spokesperson for Nigel Farage’s party.
The Labour Government said it accepts that some of its civil servants are working on “time‑limited visas”.
It did not challenge the PCS union’s estimate that at least 1,500 DWP staff could be affected by rule changes when asked about numbers.
A spokesperson said that “visa sponsorship depends on individual circumstances”, adding: “We take staff welfare seriously and offer a wide range of support to colleagues working on time‑limited visas.”
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