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Foreign workers and international students are turning away from the UK following a wave of tough immigration rules introduced over the past two years.
According to new data from the UK Home Office covering the year ending September 2026, main applications for the Skilled Worker visa dropped 43 percent to 26,400. Applications for the Health and Care Worker visa collapsed by 63 percent to just 7,500.
The numbers reveal a drastic shift from peak hiring periods. At its high point in the year ending November 2023, the Health and Care Worker route recorded 161,700 main applications. Current figures represent a 95 percent drop from that peak.
The steep decline follows significant legal and policy changes designed to curb net migration. In July 2025, the UK government raised the minimum salary requirement for Skilled Worker visas from £38,700 to £41,700.
At the same time, authorities raised the job entry threshold to Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) level 6 for most roles, effectively requiring applicants to hold graduate-level qualifications. Only a limited number of roles listed on the Immigration Salary List or Temporary Shortage List remain exempt.
The financial burden on employers has also grown. In December 2025, the UK increased the Immigration Skills Charge by 32 percent, making sponsorship significantly more expensive for local businesses. In January 2026, language rules were tightened further by raising the required English-language proficiency level from B1 to B2 for specified work routes.
Family members of overseas workers face tighter barriers as well. Applications from Skilled Worker dependants fell 25 percent to 35,500 over the past year. Dependant applications under the Health and Care Worker route dropped 36 percent to 31,000, down 87 percent from a peak of 234,000 recorded in February 2024.
These family drops reflect rules introduced in March 2024 that limited care workers from bringing family members. Overseas recruitment for care roles under the standard route was later halted entirely, though care workers already in the UK retain options to switch visas in-country until July 2028.
The direct hit to long-term employment stands in contrast to short-term work schemes. Seasonal Worker visa applications rose eight percent to 42,100 in the year ending September 2026. However, applicants under the seasonal route and the Youth Mobility Scheme, which saw a five percent drop to 20,700, are strictly barred from bringing family members.
Higher education institutions are experiencing a similar downward trend. Main applications for sponsored study visas fell 19 percent to 352,500 in the year ending September 2026. Student dependant applications dropped 31 percent to 15,700, marking an 89 percent fall since December 2023.
Since January 2024, most international students cannot bring family members to the UK unless they are enrolled in eligible postgraduate research programs or government-sponsored courses. The introduction of a temporary “visa brake” on March 26, 2026, further restricted entry-clearance applications for selected nationalities.
The Home Office noted that the published figures are provisional and reflect entry applications rather than final visa approvals or total population numbers.
