The United Kingdom is seeing a drop in the number of work visas it gives out. This is because of changes to immigration rules that happened over the last year. The Home Office says that in 2025 the number of work visas given out was 19 percent lower than in 2024. It was even lower than that compared to 2023. 50 Percent lower.
The United Kingdom gave out a total of 168,000 work visas in 2025. The biggest drop was in the Health and Care route. The number of visas given out in this area was cut in half. 13,177 Health and Care visas were given out in the year that ended in December 2025. This is a lot lower than the 26,922 visas that were given out the year. The United Kingdom had given out 145,823 Health and Care visas in 2023. This shows just how big the drop really is. The work visa numbers for the Health and Care route have really gone down. Work visas are still being given out. Not as many, as before. The United Kingdom is giving out work visas, especially for the Health and Care route.
Why Are UK Work Visas Falling?
The main reason is the changes made by the government. The Skilled Worker visa salary threshold has gone up to forty-one thousand seven hundred pounds per year for jobs. Also applicants now have to meet RQF Level 6 requirements, which means they need to have a graduate-level job. They have to pass a B2-level English language test.
Immigration solicitor Raju Thapa says these tougher conditions have led to a drop in applications. Many employers, in hospitality and food services cannot afford to pay the higher salary. At the time the graduate-level job requirements mean that mid-skilled roles that used to qualify no longer do.
Another big proposal that is causing uncertainty is the governments plan to make it harder to get residency. They want to make migrants wait ten years of five. For migrants this makes the UK less appealing compared to countries like Canada or Australia. The Skilled Worker visa rules are really tough now.
The new rules are affecting people who want to work in the UK. The Skilled Worker visa salary threshold is now forty-one thousand seven hundred pounds per year. This is a change. Many employers are struggling to afford it. The RQF Level 6 requirements are also a challenge.
The governments plan to extend the settlement qualification period is also a concern. It would take ten years to get residency. This is a time. Many migrants prefer countries with rules like Canada or Australia. They offer a straightforward path to residency.
The changes are having an impact on migrants and employers. They are making it harder for people to work in the UK. The Skilled Worker visa rules are stricter now. This is causing uncertainty, for people.
Political Pressure and Policy Shift
The Labour government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing more pressure to cut down on immigration.
This pressure is growing because of the rise of the Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage, which is making people talk more about controlling who comes into the country.
People are now more focused on reducing the number of immigrants and both the Conservative and Labour parties have taken a stance on immigration in recent years.
This has led to ways for people to move to the country legally.
The Labour government and Prime Minister Keir Starmer are under pressure, about immigration.
The Reform UK party and Nigel Farage are making immigration a topic.
The Conservative and Labour governments have both made it harder for people to immigrate.
Fewer people can now move to the country legally.
Foreign Nurses Decline by 93%
Perhaps the worrying effect is in healthcare. The number of nurses coming to the UK has dropped by 93 percent over three years. In 2022 26,100 foreign nurses came to the country. By 2025 that number had fallen to 1,777.
This big drop is causing concern. The UKs National Health Service and private care homes are already struggling with staff shortages because of an aging population, Brexit-related workforce gaps and more people needing care.
Experts say that without overseas recruitment, hospitals and care homes could face severe staffing crises. People are already waiting a time for treatment in many parts of England and staffing shortages may make things worse. The National Health Service and care homes need nurses. Foreign nurses play a role in the UKs healthcare. The UK needs to find a way, to recruit nurses.
Illegal Migration Rising
The number of people getting work visas is going down but it seems more people are coming to the country without the right papers. In the year that ended in December 2025 46,497 people entered the United Kingdom through routes that are not supposed to be used. This is 7 percent more than the year. Most of these people around 89 percent came on boats that crossed the English Channel.
At the time 100,625 people asked for asylum during this same period. This is 4 percent less than the year before. The number of people being sent back home has gone up by 21 percent with 9,900 people being removed from the United Kingdom.
This shows that making it harder for people to come to the country legally does not mean that fewer people will come. Migration will just find ways like these irregular routes to happen. The thing is, migration, like the migration of people, to the United Kingdom is still going on even if the legal ways to get there are getting tighter.
The Picture is taken from Kabita Nepali
What Is the Current UK Job Market Like?
The job market in the UK is still over the place even with tougher immigration rules. Places like healthcare, social care, construction, engineering and technology are still looking for people to hire.
However many employers in the UK are now looking to hire people from the UK or use machines to do jobs because it is very expensive to get visas for people from countries and it is a lot of work to follow all the rules.
Some places like restaurants and stores used to hire a lot of people from countries but now they are having a tough time because people do not have as much money to spend and they have to pay their workers more.
Some businesses have a time finding people to work but they cannot pay them as much as the new rules say they have to so it is a problem for the UK job market and, for businesses.
For students who come from countries to study in the UK it is now harder to get a work visa when they finish school.
The UK has rules that make it hard for the families of students to come to the UK. They have to have a lot of money so not as many students want to come to the UK anymore which affects the UK job market.
A Migrant’s Perspective
Roshni Thapa, a Nepali who came to London as a student in January 2022 and then changed to a work visa says that the Skilled Worker route gives her stability but it is not all easy.
She says that with a work visa she has a chance of keeping her job and earning a good income. The Skilled Worker route is what she is talking about when she says this. She thinks that the Skilled Worker route also has some problems.
Roshni Thapa says that it is not easy to stay with the employer for five years, which is what the Skilled Worker route requires. Some employers are not very nice. They take advantage of people on the Skilled Worker route by making them work longer hours or by not giving them all the benefits they should get.
Roshni Thapa is also worried about what happens if the sponsor licence is cancelled because this can cause problems, for her visa status and it can happen very suddenly.
My Opinion
For people from Nepal and other countries who want to move to the UK for work things have become tougher. The UK is not as easy to get into as it was during the big recruitment push in 2022 and 2023. Now you need a salary, stricter qualifications and theres a lot of uncertainty around politics making it harder to plan.
There are still chances in areas like healthcare, IT and special engineering jobs where bosses can justify paying more.
If you are thinking of moving to the UK do your research properly. Make sure you have qualifications and speak good English. The times of recruitment after the pandemic are over. The UK is now looking for workers and only those who are well-prepared will make it in 2026 and, beyond.