Work visas issued to migrants have fallen by 36 per cent compared to last year, fresh data has revealed, as tightened rules on skilled workers and care providers have lowered the numbers of people arriving in the UK.
The Labour government is under considerable pressure to cut net migration from previous peaks of nearly one million, with pointed changes to rules seen as key to curbing immigration while ensuring labour shortages are kept at a minimum.
The Home Office said on Thursday that there were 183,000 work visas granted over 12 months to June, with an 88 per cent fall in care worker visas behind the drop.
Work visas are 33 per cent above pre-Brexit levels while student visas are 54 per cent higher than in 2019.
Official figures said there were 414,000 sponsored study visas to foreign students, with a majority of student visas in the last five years have been for masters level courses
They also showed there were 163,000 grants of settlement in the UK in the year to June 2025, with those being given indefinite leave to remain on a work route accounting for over a third of all grants.
Hopes to lower immigration
Fresh immigration statistics partly point to the effect of Tory-era policies kicking into effect.
Labour is set to maintain restrictions introduced by the Conservatives, including a ban on dependents of care workers and most overseas students receiving visas.
The former government also increased the salary threshold on the skilled worker visa from £26,200 to £38,700.
Labour have maintained some of these policies while introducing an end to care worker visas and tightening English-speaking qualifications as part of its push to lower immigration levels.
Ministers are also exploring the option of doubling indefinite leave to remain, which is the period of time after which individuals can have the right to stay in the UK permanently, to ten years.
Net migration hit record levels after Brexit, reaching 906,000 in the year to June 2023 before falling to 431,000 in the year to 2024.
Asylum hotel dilemma
But the government faces growing opposition to its record on small boat crossings and illegal migration, which has cost the government billions of pounds in payments for accommodation.
The number of people who claimed asylum was 111,000 while claims have almost doubled since 2021.
New figures also showed that the number of asylum seekers housed in UK hotels increased by eight per cent to 32,059 while those in other accommodation reached 71,339
The Home Office now faces a challenge after a High Court injunction sought by Epping Forest District Council said migrants should be moved out of The Bell Hotel by 12 September.
Several councils are now looking to bring their own legal challenges forward to stop hotels being used to house migrants, with the ruling stating there had been a breach of planning laws while the hotel itself had become a risk to public safety.
Government figures show some £2.2bn of overseas development aid has been spent on asylum hotels.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “Under Labour we now have record numbers claiming asylum. The vast majority should never qualify and most will cost the taxpayer a huge sum of money”.