Home Office data has recently been revealed: of the 560,000 work visas applied for in the last 4 years, only 181,000 visas had been granted. A staggering 67% visa applications had been declined, leaving key economic growth sectors missing valuable foreign skilled members to fuel it.
With only 33% of work visas being issued, there is a clear gap in some sectors where there is no available UK talent to fill the gaps, and the need to attract and grant work visas within these fields is needed. But it’s not just the lack of acceptance that is causing this issue, but unrealistic requirements for highly skilled work visas to pass, such as the application fee and ongoing fee total is up to 3 grand a year, which is ridiculous and has gone up this year, with speculation it will increase.
Charging skilled workers more than, for example, a healthcare visa, but three times it’s deterring talent from the UK when we should be encouraging candidates to help with our economic growth.
What Fields Are Being Affected?
Areas such as the sciences, STEM, clean energy and many more are being affected as a result of these changes in immigration law and are hurting specific areas and creating strain for employees within these industries.
There has been a lot of discussion around this topic recently, as these sectors have been feeling the effects of the lack of talent that is needed for the level of economic growth which is expected from the UK. It has led to people within this industry to question the home office’s system and ‘unit of purpose’, as they aren’t doing what they are supposed to do, which is attract high-skilled workers to the UK to help us and the world be better.
Downing Street has announced that the government’s updated immigration strategy aimed at decreasing net migration will be delayed until after Easter. The White Paper, which the government claims will outline its plans to repair the UK’s “broken immigration system,” was initially scheduled for release earlier this year but is now anticipated only after the local elections in May.
A report from Centuro Global titled How to Fix the UK’s Broken Visa System indicates that critical sectors are facing severe talent shortages, and if these issues are not addressed, they could threaten national priorities such as AI development, achieving net zero, and the future of the City of London.
What Are The 8 Key Sectors Affected?
The Government’s Invest 2035 industrial strategy, which was released in 2024, highlights 8 sectors that they believe will be part of the strategy to take Britain further and promote economic growth. Which is very interesting; the key sectors include:
– Advanced manufacturing
– Clean energy industries
– Creative industries
– Defence
– Digital and technologies
– Financial services
– Life sciences
– Professional and business services.
However, recent statistics reveal that fewer than one-third of UK work visas granted in the past four years were awarded to professionals in these sectors, indicating that the UK may be falling behind other nations in attracting global talent. As mentioned, there has been a huge drop in STEM, and this is surprising, as you would think that most Brits themselves would be happy for skilled working professionals in areas such as STEM to be here and helping our country better itself.
It’s just not making any sense to both people within the industry and the general public which people with highly skilled backgrounds are being rejected and not encouraged to come here.
Skilled Work Visa Changes
As mentioned before, the skilled work visa has had recent changes in both 2024 and more recently in March 2025. To reduce high levels of net migration, the former Conservative government implemented stricter regulations for the Skilled Worker route, which included increasing the minimum salary threshold by 48% and replacing the former Shortage Occupation List with a more restricted Immigration Salary List, eliminating salary discounts for roles in shortage occupations.
Since the Skilled Worker visa route accommodates a wide range of both high-skilled and lower-skilled jobs, any measures aimed at discouraging employers from hiring overseas workers for lower-skilled positions will also hinder high-value firms from getting the talent they need, which isn’t either convenient nor makes any sense. It’s essentially if one can’t have it, neither can the other one, which again makes something of a priority and of the benefit of many suffer and has, in fact, further negative impacts on the UK as a whole. While a recent change, it’s already had such negative effects.
The report linked to the Centura Globe goes into detail on the effects of these recent visa changes from the perspective of the industry’s financial worries. I would recommend giving this a read.
It also goes on to discuss how the government can do both, as it’s obvious the government wants to significantly reduce the number of visas being granted and aren’t safeguarding the types that are mutually beneficial. Therefore the report explains how exactly it’s possible with the 8 key business types. Through a new visa called the ‘growth visa’, which is specific to selected skill types that are specific to economic growth.
While there is no saying if this is something we will see in the near future, with more change coming in the following months, we should hope to see some positive developments within the employment sector within these industries.
Final Thoughts
Overall employment growth and economic growth are suffering in several key sectors that fuel our economic growth. If you are a highly skilled worker and want to help the UK with its economic development of economic growth, speak to the right people and ensure your visa is accepted. Immigration lawyers in London can guide you through the process and help you get over that line.
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