Overview

• A Daily Mail investigation found migrants paying between £19,000 and £22,000 in “work finder” fees to secure skilled worker visas.
• Advisers coach applicants to overstate qualifications and set up Home Office sponsorship licences that cost employers £525 per worker.
• Migrants often work 60-hour weeks at wages far below legal minimums while repaying as much as two-thirds of their earnings to bosses.
• Since April, skilled worker visas require a minimum £38,700 salary and rogue employers face two-year bans from sponsoring overseas workers.
• The Home Office suspended a record number of skilled worker sponsor licences in late 2024 and has seen arrests from legal working raids climb by 50%.