The UK issued 337,240 work visas last year an increase of 26% from the previous year. The staggering rise in the UK work visa statistics 2023 was mainly caused due to the Health and Care workers, graduate route visa holders, and their dependents through the Skilled Worker Visa route.
Key Work Visa Statistics 2023
- 114,409 extension visas for the “Graduate Route” were issued to the main applicants in 2023.
- 337,240 work visas were granted to main applicants in 2023.
- ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visa grants almost doubled, increasing by 91% to 146,477 (compared to 2022).
- 279,131 work permits were issued to dependants of the main applicants.
- Grants of extensions for main applicants increased by 48% to 310,056 in 2023.
- Till the end of 2023, overall 89,600 organizations and companies were registered as registered sponsors for foreign workers.
Total Work Visas Granted in 2023
There were 337,240 total work visas granted to main applicants in 2023. This dramatic rise of 26 percent than in 2022. ‘Skilled Worker’ visas remained consistent over the past year with a slight decrease of 1% but other categories saw an immense increase in the percentage of visas granted. According to the statistical data issued by the UKVI, the categories-wise statistics are as follows:
Health and Care Workers
‘Skilled Worker from “Health and Care” category visas almost doubled, increasing by 91% to 146,477. The increase was largely driven by ‘Care workers and home carers’, representing 89,236 grants in 2023.
Following are the statistics for the Health and Care category last year:
| Occupation | 2023 |
| Medical practitioners | 8,938 |
| Nurses | 22,336 |
| Care workers and home carers | 89,236 |
| Senior care workers | 16,645 |
| Other and unknown | 9,322 |
Dependants of Main Applicants
There were 279,131 visas granted to the dependants of applicants who had been granted a work visa. This had an immense increase of 80% than in 2022. This increase was due to the rise in the ‘Health and Care’ worker route, with dependants on this route accounting for 73% of all work-dependent visas granted.
Overall, 52,099 visas were granted to the dependents of Skilled Workers. On the other hand, 203,452 visas were issued to the dependents of Health and Care Workers. Out of the total work visas issued in 2023, 45% were issued to dependents only.
The UK government has banned the dependents of health and care workers from March 2024 from being sponsored by the main applicants.
Extensions in Work Routes
Overall, 490,268 extensions of visas were granted to the main applicants and their dependents for the work visa route in 2023 (240,000 held a study visa and 203,000 held a work visa before their current work extension). The number of work visa extensions for main applicants remained at 310,056. This is an increase of 48% compared to the previous year. Again, the rise was caused primarily due to extensions in the ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visa route and the ‘Graduate’ work route.
Graduate Route Extension Visas
A total of 114,409 ‘Graduate’ route extensions were granted to main applicants in 2023. This is 57% higher than in 2022 and accounted for over a third (37%) of work extensions to main applicants. This route was introduced in July 2021 and through it, international student can work or look for a job after completing their studies for a certain period. From the graduate route, the Indian nationals dominated the category where 44% (50,053) of the total visas were granted to them.
Temporary Worker Visas
Overall, 22,750 visas were issued to the category “Youth Mobility Scheme”. This is a 35% increase compared to the year 2022.
In the category of Seasonal Workers, were granted 32,724 work visas. This had a 5% decrease in the number compared to the previous year.
| Nationality | 2023 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 7,958 |
| Tajikistan | 5,665 |
| Kazakhstan | 5,014 |
| Uzbekistan | 4,091 |
| Ukraine | 2,535 |
| Other nationalities | 7,461 |
| Totals | 32,724 |
New Rules announced to decrease net migration
The UK introduced many changes in immigration rules in December 2023 to tackle the increasing net migration. The new rules have helped the government to bring down the net migration numbers in the UK. A decrease of 25% has been observed in the first four months of this year.
Starting in March and April 2024, the new skilled worker visa rules will help the UK further bring down the number of immigrants to the UK. These new changes are based on higher salary requirements for skilled workers, a ban on dependents sponsorship for care workers, and increased financial means for sponsoring a spouse for UK citizens or PR visa holders.