National statistics

Why do people come to the UK? To work

Published 23 February 2023

‘Immigration system statistics, year ending December 2022’ contents page.

This is not the latest release. View latest release.

Data relate to 2022 and all comparisons are with the calendar year 2019 (unless indicated otherwise), reflecting a comparison with the period prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Year ending comparisons that follow will include impacts resulting from the restrictions in place during this period of the pandemic.

Recent changes in visa numbers

There are a range of events / developments that are likely to have impacted visa numbers recently (such as COVID-19 and the end of free movement with the EU, alongside policy changes and the introduction of new Protection visas). This means that the Home Office visa statistics at present, include a larger degree of uncertainty around the overall trends. For further discussion and detail see ‘Recent changes to visa numbers in Home Office data’.

Summary of statistics for work visas

In 2022:

• there were around 268,000 grants to main applicants on work visas, almost twice as many (+95%) than in 2019 (prior to the pandemic) due to increases in both long-term sponsored work (or ‘Worker’) visas and ‘Temporary Worker’ visas
• grants for ‘Skilled Worker’ and ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visas represented 86% of long-term sponsored work visas granted and over half (54%) of all work visas granted to main applicants in 2022
• Indian nationals were the top nationality granted long-term sponsored work visas in 2022
• the proportion of all work-related visas granted to dependants increased from 29% in 2019 to 37% in 2022

1. Work visas granted to main applicants

There were 267,670 work visas granted to main applicants in 2022. This is almost double (+95%) the number prior to the pandemic in 2019, and 64% more than in 2021.

Annual figures are unable to account for changes in travel patterns following the pandemic, and it should be noted that European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss nationals were not required to obtain a work visa prior to 2021.

Table 1: Work visas granted to main applicants by work visa type

Work visa type	2019	2022	Change	Percentage change
Worker	63,757	166,408	+102,651	+161%
Temporary Worker	40,914	70,357	+29,443	+72%
Investor, business development and talent	2,780	3,843	+1,054	+38%
Other work visas and exemptions1	29,601	27,071	-2,530	-9%
Total	137,052	267,670	+130,618	+95%

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Notes:

1. 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) business person’, ‘Overseas Domestic Worker’, ‘UK Ancestry’, and other routes that are now closed.

The majority of work visas granted in 2022 were for long-term sponsored work:

• long-term sponsored work (or ‘Worker’) visas (62%)
• ‘Temporary Worker’ visas (26%)
• ‘Investor, business development and talent’ visas (1%)
• ‘Other work visas and exemptions’ (10%)

Figure 1: Work visas granted to main applicants between the year ending December 2013 and the year ending December 2022, by work visa type

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Figure 1 shows that grants fell in all work visa categories across 2020 following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international travel, before recovering in 2021. Long-term sponsored work (or ‘Worker’) visas rose sharply throughout 2022 and are currently more than two and a half times pre-pandemic levels. Some of these increases will in part reflect a bounce back from the low levels during the pandemic as people have rearranged travel and work arrangements now that they are able to do so.

1.1 Long-term sponsored work (or ‘Worker’) visas

The ‘Worker’ visa category covers long-term sponsored visas which typically lead to settlement. It is the main visa category for skilled workers.

Long-term sponsored work visas granted to main applicants increased more than two and a half times (+161%) in 2022, from 63,757 in 2019 to 166,408.

Figure 2: Long-term sponsored work (or ‘Worker’) visas granted to main applicants between 2019 and 2022, by visa type

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Notes:

1. ‘ICT-related routes’ refer to Intra-company Transfer visas and the ‘Senior or Specialist Worker (Global Business Mobility)’ route which opened in April 2022 as the successor.
2. There were a small number of grants to the ‘Skilled Worker’ and ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visas in 2020, following their introduction in December and August, respectively, of that year. These routes together replaced the ‘Tier 2 – General’ visa.

Figure 2 shows the growth in long-term sponsored work visas following the introduction of the ‘Skilled Worker’ and ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visas in 2020.

Grants for ‘Skilled Worker’ and ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visas represented 86% of long-term sponsored work visas granted and over half (54%) of all work visas granted to main applicants in 2022.

There were 66,324 grants of ‘Skilled Worker’ visas and an additional 76,938 grants of ‘Skilled Worker - Health and Care’ visas, the highest number of grants from any work visa.

Compared to 2021, ‘Skilled Worker’ visas grew by 86% while Health and Care visas grew by almost two and half times (+142%), in part due to the expansion of the route for eligible care workers.

Senior care workers became eligible for the skilled worker route when the route went live on 1 December 2020 and were added to the list of eligible occupations for the Health and Care Visa on 27 January 2021. Provisional management information shows that the total number of applications under the Senior Care Workers occupation in 2022 was 23,300, with 22,100 grants.

On 15 February 2022, Care Workers became eligible for the ‘Skilled Worker - Health and Care’ visa following a recommendation by the Migration Advisory Committee in their annual report for 2021. From 15 February 2022 to end of December 2022, provisional management information shows that the total number of applications under the Care Workers and Home Carers occupation was 40,300, with 34,800 grants.

1.2 Temporary Worker visas

The ‘Temporary Worker’ category relates to shorter-term visas which do not typically lead to settlement.

Grants of ‘Temporary Worker’ visas to main applicants have increased by 72% (+29,443) to 70,357, compared with 2019.

Figure 3: ‘Temporary Worker’ visas granted to main applicants between 2019 and 2022, by visa type

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

As Figure 3 shows, the increase in Temporary Worker visas has been largely driven by the ‘Seasonal Worker’ visa, which allows a person to do seasonal horticulture work or poultry production work. Visas granted to Seasonal Workers have risen from 2,493 in 2019 to 34,532, reflecting the increase in this route’s quota from 2,500 in 2019 to 40,000 in 2022. Seasonal Workers represented almost half (49%) of all Temporary Worker visas in 2022.

Figure 3 also shows the ‘Youth Mobility Scheme’ as the second largest Temporary Worker route, accounting for 16,962 grants. This is almost a quarter (24%) of all Temporary Worker visas granted. The scheme provides a cultural exchange programme that allows young people from participating countries and territories, to experience life in the UK. Global travel restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly impacted this route, with grants 16% lower in 2022 compared to 2019.

1.3 Investor, business development and talent visas

The ‘Investor, business development and talent’ category includes the ‘Global Talent’, ‘Innovator’, and ‘Start-up’ visas, and the now closed Tier 1 routes.

Grants to main applicants in this category increased by 38% (+1,054), to 3,834 between 2019 and 2022. In 2022:

• there were 2,980 grants for the ‘Global Talent’ visa, for people who have exceptional talent or exceptional promise in the field of science, engineering, humanities, medicine, digital technology or arts and culture. The route was introduced in February 2020 as an expansion of the ‘Tier 1 Exceptional Talent’ visa, which saw 794 grants in 2019
• there were 299 grants for the ‘Innovator’ visa, for a person seeking to establish a business in the UK which they can contribute significant funds to
• there were 377 grants for the ‘Start-Up’ visa, for a person seeking to establish a business in the UK for the first time

1.4 Other work visas and exemptions

There were 18,553 visas granted to ‘Overseas Domestic Workers’, 12% lower (-2,516) than in 2019.

The High Potential Individual (HPI) visa launched on 30 May 2022 and is available to recent graduates from a set list of top global universities to work or look for work in the UK. Up to the end 2022, there were 1,342 grants to main applicants.

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 extend their 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 from the UK, without returning overseas. There were 72,893 grants to students for further leave to remain in the Graduate route. In 2022, Indian nationals represented the largest group of students granted leave to remain on the Graduate route, representing 41% of grants.

1.5 Work visas by nationality

In 2022:

• Indian nationals were the top nationality granted long-term sponsored work visas, accounting for 36% of the total
• the top 3 nationalities granted ‘Skilled Worker’ visas were Indian nationals, accounting for 33% (21,640), United States nationals with 6% (3,822) and Filipino nationals with 4% (2,763)
• the top 3 nationalities for the ‘Skilled Worker - Health and Care’ visa were Indian nationals accounting for 32% (24,976), Zimbabwean nationals with 16% (12,159) followed by Nigerian nationals with 15% (11,823)

Table 2: Top 3 nationalities¹ of Work visas granted to main applicants by work visa type

Work visa type	2019	2022	Change	Percentage change
Worker
India	29,552	59,944	+30,392	+103%
Nigeria	1,993	13,449	+11,456	+575%
Zimbabwe	499	12,786	+12,287	+2,462%
Temporary Worker
Ukraine	2,616	7,781	+5,165	+197%
Australia	9,730	7,734	-1,996	-21%
Kyrgyzstan	11	4,352	+4,341	+39,464%
Investor, business development and talent
India	340	528	+188	+55%
Russia	105	424	+319	+304%
Nigeria	66	378	+312	+473%
Other work visas and exemptions2
Philippines	10,911	9,570	-1,341	-12%
India	3,972	4,167	+195	+5%
South Africa	1,799	1,814	+15	+1%

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Notes:

1. Top 3 nationalities in the most recent year.
2. 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) business person’, ‘Overseas Domestic Worker’, ‘UK Ancestry’, and other routes that are now closed.

In 2019, the Seasonal Worker visa was primarily granted to Ukrainians, who represented 91% of grants that year. In 2022, Ukraine remained the largest nationality with 21% (7,318) of all grants. For further detail on Ukrainian nationals on the Seasonal Worker route, see the Statistics on Ukrainians in the UK topic. However, nationals from Central Asia represent an increasing proportion of grants, with the second and third highest number of grants to nationals of Kyrgyzstan (4,341, 13%) and Uzbekistan (4,233, 12%).

1.5.1 Work visas granted to EEA and Swiss nationals

From 1 January 2021, changes in the immigration rules resulting from the UK’s departure from the European Union mean that EEA and Swiss (excluding Irish) nationals now require a visa to work in the UK. In 2022, there were 26,830 work-related visas granted to main applicants from EEA and Swiss nationals, representing 10% of all work visas granted.

The top 3 work visas granted to EEA and Swiss nationals in 2022 were:

• ‘Skilled Worker’ with 12,106 grants (45% of all EEA and Swiss work visas)
• ‘Government Authorised Exchange’ with 4,000 grants (15% of all EEA and Swiss work visas)
• ICT-related visas with 3,109 grants (12% of all EEA and Swiss work visas)

‘ICT-related routes’ refers to the ‘Senior of Specialist Worker (Global Business Mobility)’ visa which opened in April 2022, and former ‘Intra-company Transfer’ visa which are now closed to new applicants.

EEA and Swiss nationals represented 10% (16,438) of grants on long-term sponsored work routes. However, only 1,094 grants of ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visas were to EEA and Swiss nationals, representing just 1% of grants on this visa, despite this being the work visa with the highest number of grants overall.

The top 3 EEA nationalities granted work visas and permits were:

• French with 4,349 grants (16% of EEA and Swiss work visas)
• German with 3,708 (14% of EEA and Swiss work visas)
• Italian with 3,242 grants (12% of EEA and Swiss work visas)

2. Dependants of work visa holders

Under some circumstances, work visa holders are able to bring partners and children (‘dependants’) to the UK. In this section, work-related visas refer to visas granted to both primary work visa holders and their dependants.

In 2022, there were 155,343 grants to dependents of people who had been granted a work visa. This was more than two and half times (+180%) the number of grants in 2019, largely reflecting the growth in main applicants.

The proportion of all work-related visas granted to dependants has also grown, from 29% in 2019 to 37% in 2022.

Table 3: Visas granted to dependants of work visa holders, by visa type

Work visa type	2019	2022	Change	Percentage change
Worker	49,798	147,656	+97,858	+197%
Temporary Worker	2,553	2,301	-252	-10%
Investor, business development and talent	3,142	3,490	+348	+11%
Other work visas and exemptions1	14	1,896	n/a2	n/a2
Total	55,507	155,343	+99,836	+180%

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Notes:

1. 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) business person’, ‘Overseas Domestic Worker’, ‘UK Ancestry’, and other routes that are now closed.
2. In 2019, dependants who applied through the now discontinued ‘Other work visas and exemptions’ routes are included in the ’Dependants joining and accompanying’ visa category, which means that 2019 and 2022 are not directly comparable.

Long-term sponsored work (or ‘Worker’) visa holders provided the majority of work-related dependants (95%), with dependants representing almost half (47%) of all visas in this category.

In contrast, only 3% of all Temporary Worker visa grants were to dependants, in part because dependants are not permitted on Seasonal Worker and Youth Mobility visas. Almost half (48%) of ‘Investor, business development and talent’ associated visas were to dependants.

Figure 4: Visas granted to dependants of work visa holders by visa route, and the proportion of all work-related visas to dependants, 2019 to 2022

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Notes:

1. There were a small number of grants to the ‘Skilled Worker’ and ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visas in 2020, following their introduction in December and August, respectively, of that year. These routes together replaced the ‘Tier 2 – General’ visa.

Figure 4 shows that in 2022, there were 127,392 grants to dependants of ‘Skilled Worker’ and ‘Skilled Worker - Health and Care’ visas, which together represented 82% of all visas granted to dependants of work visa holders. Additionally:

• over two-fifths (41%) of grants associated with the ‘Skilled Worker’ visa were to dependants, with 46,473 grants
• over a half (51%) of grants associated with the ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visa were to dependants, with 80,919 grants

2.1 Nationalities of dependants on work-related visas

Indian nationals represented 45% of visas granted to dependants of work visa holders. This is reflective that Indian nationals were the top nationality granted long-term sponsored work visas to main applicants, the work visa category which represented the vast majority of dependants.

Table 4: Top 5 nationalities¹ of visas granted to dependants of work visa holders

Nationality	2019	2022	Change	Percentage change
India	28,149	70,647	+42,498	+151%
Nigeria	2,138	18,969	+16,831	+787%
Zimbabwe	506	10,434	+9,928	+1,962%
Philippines	1,151	5,663	+4,512	+392%
Pakistan	2,132	5,196	+3,064	+144%
Other nationalities2	21,431	44,434	+23,003	+107%
Total	55,507	155,343	+99,836	+180%

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 2022.

The top 3 nationalities of visas granted to dependants of ‘Skilled Worker’ visa holders were Indian nationals, accounting for 46% (21,595), United States nationals with 5% (2,389) and Pakistani nationals with 5% (2,254).

For dependants of ‘Skilled Worker - Health and Care’ visa holders, Indian nationals represented the highest number of grants with 41% (33,459) of the total. Nigerian nationals were the second highest with 21% (16,729), followed by Zimbabwean nationals with 12% (9,939). Together these 3 nationalities comprised around three quarters (74%) of the dependents of Health and Care visas issued in 2022.

3. Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) used for sponsored work visas (main applicants)

In 2022 there were 220,787 Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) used for work visa applications, 94% (+107,013) more than in the year ending September 2019. (Comparisons are made with the year ending September 2019, due to data quality issues between October to December 2019 and April to June 2020. See Section 4.4 for details.)

A CoS is considered ‘used’ when an applicant receives a decision on their visa application.

3.1 CoS used for long-term sponsored work (or ‘Worker’) visa applications

There were 162,614 CoS used for long-term sponsored work (or ‘Worker’) visas, which accounted for 74% of the total CoS used.

Figure 5: Top 5 work sectors for Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) used as part of visa applications for long-term sponsored work (or ‘Worker’) visas in 2022, compared with the year ending September 2019

Source: Work Sponsorship (Certificate of Sponsorship) – CoS_D01

Figure 5 shows that ‘Human Health and Social Work Activities’ was the largest sector for CoS used in 2022 for long-term sponsored work visas, with the 5 largest sectors comprising:

• Human Health and Social Work Activities (45%)
• Information and Communications (13%)
• Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities (11%)
• Financial and Insurance Activities (7%)
• Manufacturing (5%)

‘Human Health and Social work’ CoS used for long-term sponsored work visas have grown from 15,348 in the year ending September 2019 to 73,128 in 2022. All sectors grew between these 2 periods, but ‘Human Health and Social Work Activities’ accounted for over half (58%) of the growth in CoS used for long-term sponsored work.

The increase is likely due to a combination of the removal of doctors and nurses from the Tier 2 Visa Cap in June 2018, the introduction of the bespoke Health and Care Worker visa in August 2020 and it’s expansion in late 2021 following further demand for healthcare professionals resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 the application to the UK of European Union (EU) free movement law, UK immigration control related almost entirely to non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationals. From 2021, unless otherwise stated, data 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 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. Year ending comparisons will also include impacts resulting from the travel restrictions put in place during the pandemic.

Main applicants and their dependants do not necessarily need to apply at the same time. Therefore, the number of work-related visas granted to dependants across any period may not fully reflect the number of grants to main applicants across the same period.

4.1 Worker

The ‘Worker’ visa category includes long-term sponsored 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.

The provisional data for Care Workers and Senior Care Workers includes both in-country and out-of-country applications.

Additionally, the Scale-up Worker visa, which launched in August 2022, is included in this category. However, there have been no visa applications up to the end of 2022 in this route. This is because the route requires individuals to be sponsored in the first instance, and so there will be a period before individual applications can be made, given the need for companies to apply for a licence and meet the high-growth requirements for the route. The Scale-up route is also just one part of the offers available to businesses in the points-based system, and therefore there may be a delay before existing sponsors decide to utilise this route.

Tier 2 was implemented in November 2008. There were 4 Tier 2 routes: General, Intra-company Transfer, Minister of Religion and Sportsperson.

4.2 Temporary Worker

The ‘Temporary Worker’ visa type includes shorter-term 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’ and ‘Temporary Worker’ routes.

The Seasonal Worker route was opened to new applicants from January 2019. This route came into effect within January to March 2019 as part of a series of annual pilots that provided 6-month visas for seasonal horticultural workers. The growth in this route reflects the quota increases for this visa, which increased from 2,500 visas in 2019 to a current quota of 40,000 in 2022, including 2,000 visas for temporary migrants to work in the UK poultry sector. More information can be found on the Seasonal Workers information page and in the Government food strategy, announced in June 2022.

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 Investor, business development and talent

The ‘Investor, business development and talent’ category includes the Global Talent, Innovator, and Start-up visas, and the now closed Tier 1 routes.

Tier 1 of the points based system (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.

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 Tier 1 Investor route was closed to new applicants in February 2022.

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

4.4 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.

4.5 Other sources

Until 2020, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published long-term international migration estimates in its ‘Migration Statistics Quarterly Report’ (latest data available is for the year ending March 2020). The ONS are currently reviewing their methods for measuring population and migration but have released provisional experimental statistics for the year ending June 2022.

The ONS provides the official measures of employment and unemployment in the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Statistics for October to December 2022 (latest available data) can be found in Labour market overview, UK: February 2023 release. The ONS are reviewing the LFS methodology at present, so estimates of the foreign labour force from this source should be used with caution.

5. 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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