National statistics

Why do people come to the UK? To work

Published 25 February 2021

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Data relate to the year ending December 2020 and all comparisons are with the year ending December 2019, unless indicated otherwise.

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a global pandemic. A range of restrictions relating to the outbreak began on 12 March 2020, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advised against all non-essential overseas travel on 17 March 2020, and advised all British travellers to return to the UK on 23 March 2020, the same day as the first UK lockdown measures were announced.

Restrictions were put in place across Europe and other parts of the world in the run up to the UK outbreak, which will also have impacted travel to the UK prior to these dates. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the UK immigration system, both in terms of restricting migrant movements to and from the UK and the impact on operational capacity.

Year ending comparisons that follow will include impacts resulting from the restrictions put in place during this period of the pandemic. Commentary specifically addressing changes over the course of the pandemic is also provided at the end of section 1.

This section contains data for non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationals and EEA nationals applying in new work routes on:

• Work-related visas, including Skilled work visas
• Sponsored work visa applications from different economic sectors

1. Immigration for work

There were 125,173 work-related visas granted in 2020 (including dependants), 35% fewer than in 2019. Skilled work which accounts for 60% of work-related visas granted saw the largest fall, down 36,228 or 32%.

Overall there was a fall in grants of Tier 5 (temporary work) visas (down 39%), with large falls in Youth mobility and temporary workers, down 9,605 or 48%, and Domestic workers in private households, down 14,727 or 70%. Conversely, there were significant increases in the number of grants on the ‘Tier 5 – Seasonal Workers’ route which close to tripled (+190%), increasing by 4,743 to 7,236. This was due to an increase in the quota of available visas through the scheme, rising from 2,500 in 2019 to 10,000 in 2020.

The number of grants on the European Communities Association Agreement ‘(ECAA) Businessperson’ route, which is a non-PBS route, also saw a large increase (+63%) from 2,943 to 4,785, and the number of applications was more than seven times the number in 2019. This surge in applications, and resulting grants, is likely due to people seeking to apply before the route closed to new applicants at the end of 2020.

Figure 1: Work-related visas granted by visa type¹, years ending 2011 to 2020

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02
Notes:

1. Non-PBS visas are not included in the chart.
2. ‘Tier 1 (closed routes)’ includes the ‘Tier 1 – General’, ‘Tier 1 – Post study’, ‘Tier 1 – Entrepreneur’, and ‘Tier 1 – Graduate entrepreneur’ categories. The General and Post study categories were closed to new entrants following operational evidence that these routes were not working as intended. These routes are not included in the ‘Tier 1 (High value)’ category in the chart.

Table 1: Work-related visas granted, by visa type

Visa type	2019	2020	Change	Percentage change
Skilled worker	113,555	77,760	-35,795	-32%
Temporary worker	43,467	26,500	-16,967	-39%
Other work visas and exemptions1	29,933	19,244	-10,689	-36%
High value	5,604	1,669	-3,935	-70%
Total	192,559	125,173	-67,386	-35%

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02
Notes:

1. The ‘Other work visas and exemptions’ category includes new routes other than Skilled work and older routes such as European Community Association Agreement (ECAA) businessperson, domestic workers in private households, UK Ancestry visas and pre-PBS routes that are now closed.

According to Labour Force Survey estimates from October to December 2020 published in the ONS Labour market overview, UK: February 2021 release, there were 1.26 million non-EU nationals working in the UK, 84,000 less than a year earlier. Between early 2009 and December 2020, the number of non-UK nationals from outside the EU working in the UK has stayed broadly consistent, at around 1.20 million, with slight fluctuations year on year. There were an estimated 29.35 million UK nationals working in the UK, 22,000 more than a year earlier.

At the same time, there were 1.83 million EU nationals working in the UK, 478,000 fewer than a year earlier, this number fell throughout 2020 following a period of broad stability starting in the latter half of 2016 at around 2.30 million.

1.1 Skilled Work

In this section ‘skilled work’ includes Tier 2 routes from the old PBS and the new Skilled Worker and Intra-company visas which replaced the Tier 2 General and Intra-company transfer routes.

In 2020, there was a 32% fall in the Skilled work visas granted (down 35,795 to 77,760). Previously, Tier 2 visa grants had been at the highest level on record, due to a steady rise in grants in the ‘Tier 2 – General’ and ‘Tier 2 – Dependant’ categories from July 2018, when doctors and nurses were removed from the Tier 2 visa cap.

The majority of the fall was accounted for by a decrease in grants of Intra-company transfer visas, which fell by 62% (-31,555) to 19,611 in 2020. While much of this decline is as a result of COVID-19, it follows a fall over the last few quarters before the pandemic.

Grants of ‘Tier 2 – General’ and ‘Skilled worker - General’ also fell in 2020, down 17% (-5,986) to 30,109. The much larger fall in the number of Intra-company transfers means that ‘Tier 2 – General’ is now the largest Tier 2 route for the first time.

There were 1,191 grants of the new ‘Skilled worker – Health and Care workers’ visa. Indian nationals account for more than two fifths (44%) of all skilled work visas granted, however their number of grants fell by 41% to 33,955 in 2020. There were increases for Nigerian (+20%) and Egyptian (+8%) nationals.

Table 2: Top 5¹ nationalities granted Skilled Work visas

Nationality	2019	2020	Change	Percentage change
India	57,087	34,243	-22,844	-40%
Philippines	6,315	5,831	-484	-8%
United States	9,222	4,874	-4348	-47%
Nigeria	3,918	4,696	778	+20%
Egypt	2,588	2,787	199	+8%
Other nationalities2	34,425	25,329	-9,096	-26%
Total	113,555	77,760	-35,795	-32%

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02
Notes:

1. Top 5 nationalities in the most recent year.
2. ‘Other nationalities’ includes those that do not feature in the top 5 in the latest year.

In the year ending September 2019 (the latest available data – see ‘About these statistics’ for details), five sectors accounted for 87% of sponsored Tier 2 work visa applications:

• information and communication (31%)
• human health and social work activities (24%)
• professional, scientific and technical activities (16%)
• financial and insurance activities (10%)
• education (6%)
• other (13%)

1.2 Other work-related visas

In 2020, there was a 70% (-3,935) decrease in High value (Tier 1) visas granted, to 1,669. While much of this decline is as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it follows falls over the last few quarters, driven by a decrease in ‘Entrepreneur’ and ‘Investor’ visas, following a change in policy reflecting advice from the Migration Advisory Committee on the Tier 1 (Investor) route Investment thresholds and economic benefits.

There was a 39% decrease in Youth mobility and temporary worker (Tier 5) visas in 2020, to 26,500. ‘Seasonal Workers’ was the only Tier 5 route to see an increase in 2020, nearly tripling from 2,493 to 7,236 (+4,743 or 190%). Of those granted a seasonal worker visa in 2020, 87% were Ukrainian nationals.

The ‘Youth mobility’ route was the largest of all Tier 5 routes, accounting for 40% (10,502) of the total (26,500). 72% of Youth mobility visas were granted to nationals of three countries – Australia (41%), Canada (17%) and New Zealand (14%).

The number of visas granted in the ‘ECAA Businessperson’ route increased 63% in 2020, increasing from 2,943 to 4,785 (+1,842). The number of applications for ECAA Businessperson visas in 2020 was more than seven times the number in 2019, increasing by 27,033 (+673%) from 4,018 to 31,051, with 20,616 applications in the last three months of 2020. The increases on the ‘ECAA Businessperson’ route, particularly in applications, is likely due to people seeking to apply before its closure to new applicants on January 1st 2021.

1.3 The effects of COVID-19 on immigration for work

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all visa application centres were closed by 31 March 2020. They began gradually reopening from June 2020. As a result, visa application and grant numbers were much lower than usual in the second quarter of 2020 (April to June).

In the final quarter of 2020 (October to December), the overall number of Work visa applications was 21% higher than the same period in 2019, largely due to the increase in applications for ECAA Businessperson visas. At the same time, the number of work visas issued were 17% lower.

Numbers of visas issued began to recover in June and continued to do so until the end of the third quarter. The number of grants in September 2020 was 8% lower than September 2019, compared to 68% lower for the month of June. Grants in October were 24% lower than the same month in 2019, November was 18% lower, and December 8% lower.

Figure 2: Number of work-related visas granted, by month, 2019 and 2020

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02 and underlying data

2. 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. This includes both highly-skilled non-EEA workers, investors and entrepreneurs, temporary workers, and those employed in sports, the arts and other sectors.

Entry clearance visas allow an individual to enter and stay in the UK within the period for which the visa is valid. EEA nationals do not require a visa to enter the UK.

Data in this section refer 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. If an individual entered the UK multiple times within the period for which a visa was valid, this has been counted as one grant in the visa statistics.

The data do not show whether, or when, an individual arrived in the UK, what they did on arrival to the UK, or how long they stayed in the UK.

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 available in the published tables.

2.1 Tier 1 (High value)

Tier 1 of the PBS was phased in between February and June 2008 as a general route. However, from 2010, Tier 1 has focused on providing visas for ‘High value’ migrants only, including the exceptional talent route, investors and entrepreneurs.

The Tier 1 Entrepreneur route was closed to most new applicants in March 2019 and replaced by the non-PBS Innovator route.

The Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur route was closed to new applicants in July 2019 and replaced by the non-PBS Start-up route.

The Tier 1 Exceptional Talent route was closed to new applicants in February 2020 and replaced by the non-PBS Global Talent route.

The remaining Tier 1 routes were closed at the end of 2020.

2.2 Tier 2 (Skilled)

Tier 2 of the PBS was the primary route for economic migration to the UK. Broadly, the route was for skilled workers from outside the EEA who have an offer of employment in the UK in an occupation classed as skilled to NQF6 or above.

Tier 2 was implemented in November 2008. There were four routes within Tier 2: General, Intra-company transfer, Minister of religion and Sportsperson.

Tier 2 was closed at the end of 2020 and replaced by the Skilled Worker and Intra-Company Transfer routes.

2.3 Tier 5 (Youth mobility and temporary workers)

Tier 5 (Youth mobility and temporary workers) was implemented in November 2008 to provide a route for those coming to the UK for primarily non-economic reasons.

The Tier 5 Seasonal workers route was open to new applicants from January 2019.

The Tier 5 routes were closed at the end of 2020 and replace by equivalent Youth Mobility and Temporary Worker routes

2.4 Certificate of sponsorship (CoS)

Due to changes to the casework system in October 2019, for 2019 quarter 4 and the first three quarters of 2020 it has not been possible to break down the number of Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) used in ‘out of country’ (visa) applications or ‘in-country’ (extension) applications. As a result, the latest available data relate to the year ending September 2019. The issue will affect the data provided in tables CoS_D01 and CoS_D02. The issue was resolved in August 2020 and we hope to be able to provide quarterly data from the 4th quarter 2020.

Applicants for visas (and extensions) for Tier 2 (Skilled) work and for Tier 5 (Youth mobility and temporary worker) 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.

Tier 2 (General) is currently subject to a cap on the number of CoSs that can be allocated to employers for newly-hired employees earning less than £159,600 per year, or for dependants of Tier 4 Students who wish to switch into the Tier 2 ‘General’ category. The sponsor must apply for an allocation for these ‘restricted’ CoSs on a case-by-case basis to be considered at a monthly allocation meeting held by the Home Office. Details of the outcome of the monthly allocation process are published by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). On 15 June 2018, the government announced that doctors and nurses are to be excluded from the cap on Skilled worker visas.

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.

2.5 Other sources

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes long-term international migration (LTIM) estimates in its ‘Migration Statistics Quarterly Report’. The report includes estimates from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) on the number of people coming to the UK with the intention of staying for 12 months or more for work, study, family and other reasons. Estimates are available for EU, non-EU and British nationals. IPS data are not directly comparable with Home Office visa data for several reasons. See the ONS article ‘Comparing sources of international migration statistics’ for details.

3. Data tables

Data on immigration for work can be found in the following tables:

• Sponsorship summary tables
• Detailed sponsorship datasets
• Entry clearance visas summary tables
• Detailed Entry clearance visas datasets
• Admissions summary tables
• Extensions summary tables
• Detailed Extensions datasets

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See section 7 of the ‘About this release’ section for more details.