The UK's Skilled Worker visa programme, introduced in 2020 following Brexit to attract highly skilled professionals from around the world, has come under scrutiny amid allegations that it is being widely misused.
According to multiple British media reports and statements from UK politicians, businesses including convenience stores, restaurants, corner shops, franchises and even religious organisations are allegedly using the scheme to recruit large numbers of overseas workers for roles critics argue were never intended to qualify under a visa designed for highly skilled professionals.
Conservative Party leader and MP Chris Philp highlighted the issue in a video posted on X on Saturday. During a visit to Whitechapel Road in London, Philp pointed to several small businesses, many reportedly run by Bangladeshi immigrants, that had obtained licences to sponsor overseas workers despite appearing to have little need for highly skilled employees.
The UK has long faced shortages of skilled professionals in sectors such as healthcare, information technology and engineering. The Skilled Worker visa was introduced to help address these gaps by allowing eligible employers to recruit qualified professionals from overseas.
Critics, however, argue that loopholes in the system have enabled thousands of businesses—including convenience stores, kebab shops and small retailers—to recruit overseas workers for positions that do not align with the programme's original objective.
The Skilled Worker visa is broadly comparable to the United States' H-1B visa, allowing highly skilled foreign professionals to work in the UK and bring their dependants with them. Unlike the H-1B programme, however, the UK visa also provides a pathway to permanent settlement through Indefinite Leave to Remain after five years of continuous residence.
How the Skilled Worker visa works
The Skilled Worker visa is the UK's primary immigration route for highly skilled foreign nationals seeking long-term employment.
The programme operates under a points-based system. Applicants must have a genuine job offer from a UK Home Office-approved sponsor, satisfy the required salary threshold of at least £41,700 per year and demonstrate adequate English-language proficiency. Successful applicants can bring eligible dependants to the UK and become eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after five years.
Employers wishing to recruit overseas workers must first obtain a Sponsor Licence from the UK Home Office. To qualify, businesses are required to demonstrate that they are legitimate trading entities with appropriate registration documents, corporate bank accounts, physical premises and designated personnel responsible for monitoring sponsored workers. They must also have no relevant criminal convictions.
With certain exceptions, such as some regulated sectors, most legitimate businesses are eligible to apply for a Sponsor Licence if they can establish that they are actively operating in the UK.
Ben Brindle, a senior researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, told the BBC that there are no restrictions on the types of businesses that can apply for sponsor licences. He explained that the primary requirement is that the employer is a genuine business actively trading in the UK and intends to recruit workers into eligible occupations.
Sponsor licences granted to small businesses and religious organisations
Although the programme was designed to attract highly skilled professionals, Home Office data shows that sponsor licences have also been granted to restaurants, cafés, convenience stores and other small businesses.
According to a BBC analysis published earlier this month, around 2,000 businesses and organisations in Kent held sponsor licences. Among them were more than 200 restaurants, takeaways and cafés, along with nearly 250 corner shops, mini-markets and convenience stores. Approximately 95% of these licences were issued under the Skilled Worker route.
The list also included several religious organisations, including Canterbury Cathedral, Gravesend Gurdwara, the Longfield Gurdwara's kabaddi team, Sittingbourne Islamic Cultural Centre, Ashford Muslim Association, Dartford & Gravesend Muslim Association, the Kent branch of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and the Dartford branch of the People of Grace Gospel Mission, according to Kent Online.
Separately, a report by The Sun published in June, citing Home Office data, said at least 159 kebab shops, along with numerous car washes and vape shops, held Sponsor Licences enabling them to recruit overseas workers and their dependants.
Politicians allege misuse of the system
Chris Philp raised similar concerns during his visit to Whitechapel Road, where he identified several grocery stores, phone repair shops and convenience stores that had obtained sponsor licences and employed overseas workers.
He argued that the Skilled Worker visa route was being misused on a large scale and called for reforms to ensure that only genuinely highly skilled professionals are eligible to enter the UK under the programme.
Conservative MP Katie Lam also questioned the current system, telling the BBC that the findings illustrated what she described as "absurd" use of the immigration framework. She argued that the visa was intended for specialists making significant contributions to the economy rather than workers filling lower-skilled positions. Lam urged the government to close what she described as loopholes and said employers struggling to recruit locally should instead improve wages, invest in training and develop the domestic workforce.
Immigration experts, however, have urged caution in interpreting the data. Experts quoted by the BBC noted that the possession of a sponsor licence does not necessarily indicate that an employer is recruiting workers for low-skilled roles or abusing the immigration system.
They also pointed out that employing overseas workers through the Skilled Worker route can be more expensive than hiring domestically. Small employers must pay £611 for a sponsor licence, in addition to an immigration skills charge of at least £480 per sponsored worker for every year of sponsorship. Sponsored employees must also receive the legally prescribed minimum salary of £41,700 annually, regardless of the role.
Government tightens rules
The UK Home Office has introduced several measures aimed at limiting the use of the Skilled Worker visa for lower-skilled occupations.
In 2025, the government removed more than 100 occupations—including cooks, bakers and several hospitality-related roles—from the list of eligible jobs. It also increased salary thresholds, tightened employer eligibility requirements and stepped up enforcement.
The number of sponsor licence revocations rose sharply from 347 in 2023 to 3,299 in 2025, reflecting increased regulatory action against non-compliant employers.
Despite these changes, critics argue that the programme's central loophole remains intact. Since almost any legitimate UK business can apply for a Sponsor Licence, approved employers are still able to recruit overseas workers for eligible occupations, prompting continued debate over whether the visa is being used for jobs beyond its original purpose of attracting highly skilled professionals.
