Why do people come to the UK? To work
Updated 7 December 2023
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-september-2023/why-do-people-come-to-the-uk-to-work
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Data relates to the year ending September 2023 and all comparisons are with the year ending September 2022 (unless indicated otherwise).
1. Work visas granted to main applicants
There were 335,447 work visas granted to main applicants in the year ending September 2023, 35% higher than in the year ending September 2022, and two and half times more (+150%) than prior to the pandemic in the year ending September 2019
The recent increase is due to a number of factors, including changes in the immigration rules following the UK’s departure from the European Union, the changing needs of the UK labour market, and changes in travel and migration intentions following the pandemic. Further information on recent visa trends can be found in the article ‘Recent changes to visa numbers in Home Office data’ (Home Office, February 2023).
Figure 1: Work visas granted to main applicants between the year ending September 2014 and the year ending September 2023
Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02
Notes:
- Work visa types are denoted by solid lines whilst the ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visa, which forms part of the ‘Worker’ category, is denoted by a dashed line and includes data from the first full year of the visa. The visa was introduced in 2020, along with the ‘Skilled Worker’ visa, and together replaced the ‘Tier 2- General’ visa, previously the main route in the ‘Worker’ category.
- ‘Other skilled routes’ includes the other visa routes in the ‘Worker’ category’ such as the ‘Skilled Worker’ and the ‘Senior or Specialist Worker’ visa.
Figure 1 shows that grants decreased in all work visa categories following the COVID-19 pandemic. Grants in the ‘Worker’ visa category increased throughout 2022 and this growth has continued in 2023 due to increases in ‘Skilled Worker - Health and Care’ visas.
Table 1: Work visas granted to main applicants by work visa type
| Work visa type | Year ending September 2022 | Year ending September 2023 | Change | Percentage change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worker (of which:) | 144,909 | 229,817 | +84,908 | +59% |
| Skilled Worker | 61,084 | 66,322 | +5,238 | +9% |
| Health and Care Worker |
61,274 | 143,990 | +82,716 | +135% |
| Other ‘Worker’1 visas |
22,551 | 19,505 | -3,046 | -14% |
| Temporary Worker | 72,832 | 72,895 | +63 | +0% |
| Investor, business development and talent | 3,401 | 5,116 | +1,715 | +50% |
| Other work visas and exemptions2 | 27,142 | 27,649 | +507 | +2% |
| Total | 248,284 | 335,447 | +87,193 | +35% |
Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02
Notes:
- Predominantly ‘Intra-company Transfer’ visas and their successor ‘Senior or Specialist Worker’ visas, introduced in April 2022.
- The ‘Other work visas and exemptions’ category includes the ‘Frontier Worker Permit’, the ‘High Potential Individual’ visa and older routes such as the ‘European Community Association Agreement (ECAA) businessperson’, ‘Overseas Domestic Worker’, ‘UK Ancestry’, and other routes that are now closed.
Analysis from the Migrant Journey: 2022 report shows that around three-quarters of those arriving on work routes had expired leave 5 years later, suggesting most workers do not remain in the UK indefinitely. However, this varies by route. ‘Temporary workers’ stay in the UK for shorter periods and rarely go on to get indefinite leave to remain (ILR), while those on the ‘Worker’ and ‘Investor, business development and talent’ routes are more likely to hold valid leave after 5 years and go on to get ILR.
1.1 ‘Worker’ visas
The ‘Worker’ visa category covers sponsored work visas and is the main category for skilled workers including visas granted to allow people to come to the UK for work in health and care professions. These typically provide a route to settlement in the UK.
‘Worker’ visas granted to main applicants have increased by 59% in the year ending September 2023 compared with the previous year, primarily due to Health and Care Worker visa grants more than doubling (+135%)
While ‘Skilled Worker’ visas have only seen a modest rise in the past year (+9%), ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visa grants have more than doubled (+135%) to 143,990. Indian, Nigerian, and Zimbabwean nationals saw the largest increases on this visa compared with the previous year.
Table 2: Top 3 nationalities1 of ‘Skilled Worker’ and ‘Skilled Worker - Health and Care’ visas granted to main applicants in the year ending September 2023
| Nationality | Year ending September 2022 |
Year ending September 2023 |
Change | Percentage change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skilled Worker | 61,084 | 66,322 | +5,238 | +9% |
| India | 20,360 | 18,107 | -2,253 | -11% |
| Pakistan | 1,626 | 4,230 | 2,604 | +160% |
| Philippines | 2,138 | 3,582 | +1,444 | +68% |
| Health and Care Worker | 61,274 | 143,990 | +82,716 | +135% |
| India | 22,138 | 38,866 | +16,728 | +76% |
| Nigeria | 8,491 | 26,715 | +18,224 | +215% |
| Zimbabwe | 7,846 | 21,130 | +13,284 | +169% |
Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02
Notes:
- Top 3 nationalities in the most recent year.
The ‘Care workers and home carers’ inclusion in February 2022 accounted for the vast majority of the increase in ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visas compared with the previous year, representing 83,072 grants in the year ending September 2023
The latest increase in ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visas follows its expansion in late 2021 for ‘Care workers and home carers’ and ‘Senior care workers’ to boost the adult social care workforce.
In the latest year, ‘Care workers and home carers’ accounted for over half (58%) of ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visas granted.
Table 3: Visas granted in selected health and care occupations under the ‘Skilled Worker - Health and Care’ visa
| Occupation | Year ending September 2022 | Year ending September 2023 | Change | Percentage change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medical practitioners | 8,053 | 9,116 | +1,063 | +13% |
| Nurses | 25,360 | 23,810 | -1,550 | -6% |
| Care workers and home carers1 | 8,619 | 83,072 | n/a1 | n/a1 |
| Senior care workers2 | 13,623 | 18,244 | +4,621 | +34% |
Source: Sponsored work entry clearance visas by occupation and industry – Occ_D02
Notes:
- ‘Care Workers and Home Carers’ became eligible for the ‘Skilled Worker - Health and Care’ visa in February 2022, following a recommendation by the Migration Advisory Committee in their annual report for 2021. Therefore, the year ending September 2022 and year ending September 2023 are not directly comparable for this occupation due to an incomplete comparison year.
- Senior care workers became eligible for the ‘Skilled Worker’ visa when it went live in December 2020 and were added to the list of eligible occupations for the ‘Skilled Worker - Health and Care’ visa in January 2021.
Figure 2: ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visas granted in the year ending September 2023, broken down occupation and nationality
Source: Sponsored work entry clearance visas by occupation and industry – Occ_D02
Figure 2 shows that Nigerian (17,798), Indian (17,253) and Zimbabwean (16,619) nationals together represented more than 6 in 10 (62%) of visas granted to work in ‘Care workers and home carer’ occupations in the year ending September 2023.
Additionally, almost half (49%) of grants for ‘Nurses’ were to Indian nationals with 11,593 grants, and Indian nationals represented just over a third (34%) of ‘Senior care workers’ with 6,187 grants.
1.2 ‘Temporary Worker’ visas
The ‘Temporary Worker’ category relates to short-term work visas such as seasonal workers and the ‘Youth Mobility Scheme’. In the year ending September 2023, 42% of ‘Temporary Worker’ visas were for seasonal work, 32% were for the ‘Youth Mobility Scheme’ and the remaining 26% were for other temporary work. Temporary work visas do not typically provide a route to settlement.
The number of ‘Temporary Worker’ visas grants to main applicants in the year ending September 2023 was similar to the previous year at 72,895.
Figure 3: ‘Temporary Worker’ visas granted to main applicants between the year ending September 2019 and the year ending September 2023
Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02
Figure 3 shows that grants of ‘Seasonal Worker’ visas, which allow seasonal horticulture or poultry production work, decreased by 21% (-8,280) to 30,460 compared with the previous year, which was primarily due to a fall in Ukrainian nationals. The ‘Seasonal Worker’ route was launched in March 2019 with the number of visas that could be granted limited to 2,500 per year. This has since increased to 47,000 in 2023.
Table 4: Top 5 nationalities1 of ‘Seasonal Worker’ visas granted to main applicants in the year ending September 2023
| Nationality | Year ending September 2022 |
Year ending September 2023 |
Change | Percentage change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyrgyzstan | 4,297 | 7,233 | +2,936 | +68% |
| Tajikistan | 4,295 | 5,148 | +853 | +20% |
| Kazakhstan | 2,679 | 4,430 | +1,751 | +65% |
| Uzbekistan | 4,199 | 3,923 | -276 | -7% |
| Ukraine2 | 9,741 | 2,580 | -7,161 | -74% |
| Other nationalities | 13,529 | 7,146 | -6,383 | -47% |
| Seasonal Worker | 38,740 | 30,460 | -8,280 | -21% |
Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02
Notes:
- Top 5 nationalities in the most recent year.
- In the latest year, the majority of Ukrainian nationals applied from outside of Ukraine due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
In the year ending September 2022, Ukraine was the largest nationality granted ‘Seasonal Worker’ visas, representing 25% of grants. However, applications from Ukrainians have seen a notable drop following the war in Ukraine, with grants falling by 7,161 (-74%) in the latest year to 2,580, and now represent just 8% of grants. For further details on Ukrainian nationals, see the ‘Safe and legal (humanitarian) routes to the UK’ chapter.
Grants of ‘Youth Mobility Scheme’ visas have increased by 53% (+8,051) in the past year and have now returned to pre-pandemic levels. The scheme provides a cultural exchange programme that allows young people from participating countries and territories to experience life in the UK.
1.3 All other work-related visas
The ‘Investor, business development and talent’ category includes the ‘Global Talent’, ‘Innovator Founder’, and ‘Start-up’ visas, and the closed Tier 1 routes. In the year ending September 2023:
- there was a 58% rise (+1,492) in ‘Global Talent’ visas to 4,046 grants; this is a route for people who have exceptional talent or promise in the field of science, engineering, humanities, medicine, digital technology or arts and culture
- ‘Innovator Founder’ visas more than doubled (+107%; +269) to 520 grants; this is a route for a person seeking to establish a business in the UK based on a business idea they have either generated or significantly contributed to
- there was a 22% rise (+78) for the ‘Start-Up’ visa with 440 grants; this is a route for a person seeking to establish a business in the UK for the first time, which closed in July 2023 following the expansion of the ‘Innovator’ route in April 2023
Additionally, the number of ‘Overseas Domestic Worker’ visas granted rose by 9% in the last year to 19,879 grants.
1.4 Graduate route
The Graduate route was introduced on 1 July 2021 and allows students who have successfully completed a bachelor’s degree, postgraduate degree or other eligible course to stay in the UK for a period after their studies to work or look for work. It is an in-country visa and therefore allows the student to apply for a visa extension from the UK, without returning overseas.
A total of 104,501 Graduate route extensions were granted to main applicants in the year ending September 2023, 74% (+44,369) higher than in the previous year. Indian nationals represented the largest group of students granted leave to remain on the Graduate route, representing 43% of grants.
2. Dependants of work visa holders
For most types of work visas, visa holders are able to bring partners and children (‘dependants’) to the UK.
In the year ending September 2023 there were 250,297 grants to dependants of people who had been granted a work visa
The proportion of all work-related visas granted to dependants was 43%, compared to 35% in the preceding year.
Work-related dependants were 89% higher than in the previous year, and over 4 times higher (+361%) than prior to the pandemic in the year ending September 2019.
Figure 4: Visas granted to dependants of work visa holders by visa route, and the proportion of all work-related visas granted to dependants between the year ending September 2019 and the year ending September 2023
Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02
Notes:
- The ‘Skilled Worker’ and ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visas were introduced in 2020 and together replaced the ‘Tier 2 – General’ visa.
Figure 4 shows that in the year ending September 2023, there were 224,770 grants to both dependants of ‘Skilled Worker’ (50,874, 20% of the total) and ‘Skilled Worker - Health and Care’ visas (173,896, 69% of the total).
For Skilled Worker visas specifically, 43% of visa grants were to dependants and 57% were to main applicants. Dependants on ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visas accounted for 55% of grants on that visa, with 45% from main applicants.
2.1 Nationalities of dependants on work-related visas
Indian nationals represented 35% of visas granted to dependants of work visa holders. This is reflective that India was the top nationality granted ‘Skilled Worker’ and ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visas for main applicants, with the majority of work-related dependants being granted on these 2 routes.
Table 5: Top 3 nationalities1 of dependants granted ‘Skilled Worker’, ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visas, and of the total work dependants granted
| Nationality | Year ending September 2022 | Year ending September 2023 | Change | Percentage change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skilled Worker | 41,827 | 50,874 | +9,047 | +22% |
| India | 19,823 | 21,577 | +1,754 | +9% |
| Pakistan | 1,842 | 4,537 | +2,695 | +146% |
| United States | 2,353 | 2,209 | -144 | -6% |
| Health and Care Worker | 62,794 | 173,896 | +111,102 | +177% |
| India | 28,905 | 52,992 | +24,087 | +83% |
| Nigeria | 10,533 | 45,203 | +34,670 | +329% |
| Zimbabwe | 6,302 | 21,429 | +15,127 | +240% |
| Total work dependants | 132,147 | 250,297 | +118,150 | +89% |
| India | 64,510 | 86,789 | +22,279 | +35% |
| Nigeria | 12,391 | 47,795 | +35,404 | +286% |
| Zimbabwe | 6,701 | 22,235 | +15,534 | +232% |
Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02
Notes:
- Top 3 nationalities in the most recent year.
3. Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) used for sponsored work visas (main applicants)
All visa applications in the ‘Worker’ and ‘Temporary Worker’ (excluding Youth Mobility Scheme) work categories require a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ (CoS) from the applicant’s perspective employer as evidence of their job offer. A CoS is considered ‘used’ when an applicant receives a decision on their visa application. Dependants are not required to apply for a CoS.
In the year ending September 2023, there was a total of 285,679 Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) ‘used’, 42% (+84,605) more than the previous year. Most (81%) of these were used for ‘Worker’ visa applications.
Figure 5: Top 5 sectors1 in which a certificate of sponsorship (CoS) was used as part of a visa application for ‘Worker’ visas, in the year ending September 2023 compared to September 2022
Source: Work Sponsorship (Certificate of Sponsorship) – CoS_D01
Notes:
- Top 5 work sectors in the most recent year.
Figure 5 shows that ‘Human Health and Social Work Activities’ was the largest sector for CoS used in the year ending September 2023 for ‘Worker’ visas, representing over half (61%).
4. About these statistics
The statistics in this section provide an indication of the number of people who have an intention to enter the UK for work reasons.
Before 2021, due to freedom of movement for European Union (EU) nationals, the vast majority of UK immigration control statistics related to non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationals. From 2021, unless otherwise stated, the statistics in this release relate to both EEA and non-EEA nationals.
Entry clearance visas allow an individual to enter and stay in the UK within the period for which the visa is valid. Data in this section refers to the number of Entry clearance visas granted for work reasons within the period. If an individual was granted a visa more than once in a given period, this has been counted as multiple grants in the statistics.
Year-on-year comparisons of the number of decisions can be affected by quarterly fluctuations in the data. These fluctuations can be examined in the quarterly data in the published tables. Year ending comparisons will also include impacts resulting from the travel restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
4.1 Worker
The ‘Worker’ visa category includes sponsored work visas which typically lead to settlement, and is the main visa category for skilled workers.
These visas are Tier 2 routes from the Old Points Based system and their successors: the Skilled Worker, Skilled Worker - Health and Care, ‘Intra-company Transfer’ and International Sportsperson visas. The Senior or Specialist Worker visa, introduced in April 2022 as part of the new Global Business Mobility routes, has also been included as the successor to the ‘Intra-company Transfer’ visa. Additionally, the Scale-up Worker visa, which launched in August 2022, is included in this category.
4.2 Temporary Worker
The ‘Temporary Worker’ visa type includes shorter-term work visas which do not typically lead to settlement.
Tier 5 was implemented in November 2008 to provide a route for those coming to the UK for primarily non-economic reasons. The Tier 5 routes were then closed at the end of 2020 and replaced by equivalent ‘Youth Mobility Scheme’ and ‘Temporary Worker’ routes.
The Seasonal Worker route was opened to new applicants from January 2019. The quota has increased in each year from 2,500 visas in 2019 to a current quota of 47,000 visas in 2023.
The Creative Worker visa launched in October 2021 and replaces the creative element of the Tier 5 (Creative and Sporting) visa.
The UK Expansion Worker, Secondment Worker, Service Supplier, and Graduate Trainee visas from the Global Business Mobility routes, launched in April 2022, are also included in this visa category.
4.3 Certificate of sponsorship (CoS)
From October to December 2019, the method for extracting in-country and out-of-country Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) data changed. Data quality issues identified as part of this change in methodology has meant that some cases from October to December 2019 onwards are unable to be separately identified as either a visa or extension case, and so have been categorised as ‘unknown’.
Applicants for ‘Worker’ and ‘Temporary Worker’ visas (and extensions) must obtain a certificate of sponsorship (CoS) from a registered employer. Any organisation that wishes to sponsor a worker must be registered on the Home Office’s Register of Sponsors.
Further information about the CoS allocation process is given in the user guide and on the UK visa sponsorship for employers section of GOV.UK.
4.4 Other sources
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publish long-term international migration estimates. These are statistics under development that estimate the number of people immigrating to and emigrating from the UK for 12 months or more.
5. Data tables
Data on immigration for work can be found in the following tables:
- Sponsorship summary tables
- Detailed sponsorship datasets
- Detailed occupation datasets
- Entry clearance visas summary tables
- Detailed Entry clearance visas datasets
- Admissions summary tables
- Extensions summary tables
- Detailed Extensions datasets
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