Mahmood agenda bites: Migrant worker applications nearly halve in a year
The number of applications for skilled worker visas has nearly halved in a year after home secretary Shabana Mahmood raised the barriers to entry for migrants.
Official data released by the Home Office showed that there were 34,700 skilled worker visa applications in the year to March.
This was a 44 per cent decrease from data recorded in the year to March 2025.
New requirements introduced by the Labour government have made English language standards stricter and tightened the number of jobs for which employers can sponsor a migrant worker on a skilled worker visa.
The salary threshold was also raised to £41,700 while fees to be paid by employers were raised by 32 per cent.
Those changes came into effect in the middle of last year but Mahmood is pushing ahead with further reforms to migrant worker visa routes.
They have come in response to immigration becoming a top voter concern in multiple polls over the last year and concerns that migrant workers have delivered limited economic benefits since Brexit.
Labour’s brawl with Mahmood
In proposals deemed to be controversial by several Labour MPs, the waiting time to get settled status in the UK, otherwise referred to as indefinite leave to remain (ILR), is slated to be lengthened from five to 10 years for most workers.
Those who are paying in higher tax bands and who work in healthcare and teaching would also benefit from shorter waiting times before guaranteeing their stay in the UK.
But an intervention by former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner on the “un-British” reforms has threatened to break up Mahmood’s agenda.
The changes on ILR were subject to a consultation, which closed in February, that received over 200,000 responses.
Changes are expected to come into effect from the autumn but infighting over the policy within Labour could lead to tweaks.
Migrant worker challenges
Home Office data on Thursday also showed that applications from dependants, which mainly consist of family members, on the skilled worker route saw a 20 per cent decrease on the year.
Skilled worker visa applications including dependents peaked in 2023 when around 337,240 work visas were granted, which included special health and care work visas, which were later abolished by Labour.
Changes to immigration policy have raised concern about future tax receipts and fairness for people, with Mahmood currently aiming to target some 2m migrants who arrived in the UK after 2021 with her proposed changes on ILR.