Thirty-Seventh Report
of Session
2024-25
Home Office
Immigration: Skilled
Worker Visas
Introduction from
the Committee
The Skilled Worker visa route is the main immigration route for
people to apply to work in the United Kingdom. The government
opened the route in December 2020 following the UK's exit from
the European Union, which ended European free movement rights.
Its aims were to deliver a fair and flexible visa system which
enables the United Kingdom to attract the skills it needs and
supports wider plans for economic growth. The government aimed to
support employers to recruit skilled workers from overseas,
alongside developing wider initiatives to encourage them to train
and invest in the domestic workforce.
From the start of 2021 up to the end of 2024, the Home Office
received 1.78 million applications across all work visas, of
which 1.18 million were for Skilled Worker visas. The number of
people applying has increased from 127,300 in 2021 to 256,300 in
2024, with a peak of 509,100 applications in 2023. The increase
in the number of applications has been driven by the expansion of
the route to include care workers in 2022. At the end of 2024,
648,100 people, including dependants, had applied for Health and
Care Worker visas since the route was expanded, making up 65% of
applications received for Skilled Worker visas over this period.
The Home Office is responsible for immigration policy, including
controlling immigration, and considering applications to enter
the United Kingdom. Its UK Visas and Immigration Directorate is
responsible for managing the Skilled Worker visa route, making
decisions on applications, and ensuring people and employers
remain compliant with visa requirements.
Based on a report by the National Audit Office, the Committee
took evidence on Thursday 8 May 2025 from the Home Office. The
Committee published its report on 4 July 2025. This is the
government's response to the Committee's report.
Relevant reports
Government response
to the
Committee
- The government agrees with the Committee's recommendation.
Target implementation
date: December
2025
- As recognised by the National Audit Office, changes to
immigration rules are subject to collective government
agreement. In considering potential changes to the Skilled
Worker visa
route, the Home Office has engaged with other departments and, in
particular,
worked collaboratively with the Department of Health and Social
Care (DHSC) on the social care sector. The Labour Market Evidence
Group (LMEG) will further strengthen collaboration between the
Home Office and departments leading on labour market and skills.
- The Immigration White
Paper published on 12 May set out some of the
government's thinking on how the LMEG would operate. It will
consider workforce strategies looking at the following
issues:
- How far the workforce strategy is underpinned by a skills
strategy;
- How far it is underpinned by a commitment to work with the
Department for Work and Pensions on a domestic labour strategy;
- How the sector will manage the risk of exploitation of
workers, particularly migrant workers in the sector; and
- Whether the strategy is sufficiently ambitious.
- The former Home Secretary also commissioned the Migration
Advisory Committee (MAC) to undertake a review of salary
thresholds and the Temporary Shortage List (TSL). As part of
this review, the MAC is working with the LMEG to collect and
analyse relevant data.
- The government agrees with the Committee's recommendation.
Target implementation
date: July
2026
- The Immigration White Paper (IWP) highlighted that
work-based migration has been driven by particular sectors who
have been forced to rely on overseas recruitment due to
shortages linked to skills, training, and conditions here in
the UK.
- The lack of a comprehensive workforce plan has limited the
ability of sectors to address the underlying drivers of
shortages. The IWP set out that key sectors, where there are
high levels of overseas recruitment will need to produce, or
update, workforce strategies which relevant employers will be
expected to comply with. The MAC will recommend occupations be
added to the TSL, only if they have an effective workforce plan
in place. The MAC is working with other members of the LMEG
develop and share evidence about the state of the workforce,
training levels and participation by the domestic labour
market, including at Devolved government and regional levels.
It is focused on the eight Industrial Strategy sectors. It is
expected the MAC will have almost concluded the second part of
their current commission on the TSL by July 2026.
- In the context of the objectives of the industrial
strategy, Immigration White Paper and TSL review, the LMEG is
developing guidance for sector experts across government to
develop workforce strategies where needed. These will likely
focus on assessing the size of occupational shortages,
diagnosing what is causing shortages, and the actions of
government and employers to close shortages.
- The government agrees with the Committee's recommendation.
Target implementation
date: October
2025
- The government published its evaluation of the skilled
worker visa route alongside the Immigration White Paper on 12
May. Skilled worker
evaluation.
- The evaluation of the Skilled Worker route found that visa
holders were primarily motivated to come to the UK by career
opportunities (87%) and wanting to experience living in the UK
(70%), while businesses most cited a shortage of skilled UK
candidates (30%) as their motivation to sponsor Skilled
Workers. Sponsors reported a range of business benefits from
employing Skilled Workers, including creating a more diverse
workforce (34%), bringing in new cultural perspectives (26%),
and learning new skills from other markets (24%).
- The ability to bring dependants was a key feature in
deciding to work in the UK. Of those with dependants (54%),
only 10% reported they would still have come to the UK if they
had not been able to bring dependants. Most dependant partners
were reported to be employed (71%) – the majority were employed
full-time (54%). Self-reported English language ability for
Skilled Workers and dependants were high. Before coming to the
UK, 69% of main applicants could speak English “very well” (53%
for dependant partners). This increased to 82% at the time of
the survey (66% for dependant partners).
- A potential unintended consequence of higher than expected
use of the route is that, while most reported salaries exceeded
current thresholds, some survey responses indicate that some
individuals may not be compensated at thresholds which sponsors
are required to meet. 39% of Skilled Workers reported earning
up to £35,000 per annum, while 22% of Health and Care visa
holders earned up to £22,500 per annum, though it is not
possible from the survey to determine whether this is due to
individual migrant circumstances (e.g., new entrant discounts).
The survey sample also spans salary policy changes, meaning not
all respondents were subject to the same minimum income
requirements. Variations in individual salary rules and
discounts may also account for reported salaries below standard
route minimums, and methodological limitations could also have
skewed salary estimates.
- The government agrees with the Committee's recommendation.
Target implementation
date: October
2025
- The government will write separately to the Committee on
this point as requested.
- The government agrees with the Committee's recommendation.
Target implementation
date: July
2028
- DHSC monitors trends in the size of the care workforce
using a range of intelligence, including monthly tracking based
on data collection from independent providers.
- DHSC also uses annual estimates of demographics within the
Adult Social Care workforce to monitor trends in the number of
posts within the sector which are filled by British nationals,
supplemented by additional intelligence.
- The government agrees with the Committee's recommendation.
Target implementation
date: April
2027
- The Home Office collaborates with bodies such as the
Director of Labour Market Enforcement, Gangmasters and Labour
Abuse Authority, Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate,
HMRC, DHSC, the Care Quality Commission, and Law Enforcement.
The Home Office has established a working group to address
abuse and exploitation in the construction sector, aiming to
ensure individuals work for reputable sponsors. This initiative
will continue as the government launches the Fair Work Agency,
with an update to the Committee planned for April 2027, one
year after its creation. Exploitation will also form part of
the evidence the MAC will look at before making recommendations
to the government.
- The United Kingdom Visas and Immigration (UKVI) has taken
steps to protect care workers affected by sponsor licence
revocations. Using discretionary powers, UKVI chose not to
cancel their leave, instead directing them to regional
partnerships for alternative employment. This approach, though
not standard, was adopted due to the high level of non-
compliance in adult social care compared to other sectors.
- The Home Office continues to work with DHSC to support
international recruitment regional partnerships, helping
workers impacted by sponsor non-compliance transition into new
roles in Adult Social Care. DHSC commissioned the NIHR Policy
Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce to evaluate
the 2023–24 international recruitment regional fund, with
findings published in
January 2025. A further evaluation of the 2024–25 fund
has been commissioned and is expected in 2026.
- The government agrees with the Committee's recommendation.
Target implementation
date: March
2027
- The department continuously updates sector-specific risk
assessments using emerging data to guide caseworkers. A digital
tool alerts users to risks linked to occupations which are
assessed to be below degree level on the Temporary Shortage
List. The Home Office routinely use the Salary and Employment
Checker for sponsorship cases and are forming a dedicated unit
to scale this work, leveraging HMRC data. Planned improvements
will enable bulk processing. Additional tools are being tested
to surface organisational data, map sponsor structures, and
enhance compliance. A new tool in Autumn 2025 will improve
checks on key sponsor personnel using data from Companies House
and HMRC.
- The introduction of eVisas and Electronic Travel
Authorisations (ETAs) means more is known about everyone coming
to the UK, improving data quality and enabling upstream
interventions. eVisas will increasingly update in real time
when status changes, automatically revoking access to work,
benefits, housing, and services unlike physical documents.
Immigration status information is available automatically
through system to system checks with public authorities and
government departments.
- A new digital service is being developed to determine
whether individuals inside or outside the UK are/have complied
with conditions on their stay in the UK. This will further
empower Immigration Enforcement to identify, locate, and take
firm action against those who attempt to remain or work in the
UK illegally.
- The government disagrees with the Committee's
recommendation.
- The Home Office is committed to continuous improvement in
customer service standards. It monitors key indicators and is
improving channels for customers to seek progress on their
application.
- Complex cases are excluded from published Service
Standards, but there are service level agreements for Skilled
Worker visas, and these are published in the department's
transparency statistics. Reasons for complex cases, such as
national security or criminal concerns, safeguarding issues, or
the need to verify evidence through third parties, are outlined
on GOV.UK (Visa processing times:
applications inside the UK) and referenced in the NAO's
report.
- Home Office publish customer satisfaction scores and aim to
maximise these. The KPIs benchmark performance to assess impact
of continuous improvement activity. The department's approach
to service management embeds customer insight and customer
experience to drive up overall scores as well as tackle pain
points in the customer journey. The KPIs benchmark performance
and assess the impact of continuous improvement activity.
- Home Office recently launched the visa processing times
tool (Check your visa
processing time -
GOV.UK) where customers can self-serve to find out when
they may expect a decision based on published service
standards.
- Home Office remain committed to delivering an immigration
system that is properly managed and controlled and is testing a
partial version of a new sponsorship system. Before deciding to
expand this pilot more widely, the department will evaluate its
performance to ensure value to the taxpayer.
- Home Office continue to invest in maintaining and upgrading
its existing sponsorship system. This supports its goal for a
financially sustainable system which delivers for the UK
public.
