The United Kingdom (UK) has revoked more than double the number of licences which allows companies to employ migrant workers according to the Home Office figures.
These figures are compared with the previous 12 months, and comes as ministers have sought to clamp down on abuse of the system.
The figures show that 1,948 licences were cancelled in the year to June 2025, compared with 937 the year before.
Officials said employers had lost licences for exploiting staff, underpaying workers and misusing the visa system to help migrants circumvent rules on entering or remaining in the UK.
Employers in adult social care, hospitality, retail and construction were among the biggest offenders. Some companies were accused of failing to provide the promised work or of exploiting staff reliant on their jobs to remain in the country.
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Mike Tapp, migration minister told the BBC that a “large proportion of asylum claims and illegal migrants are actually visa overstayers,” and claimed some bosses were scamming the system by bringing people in unlawfully. He said the rise in licence removals showed Labour was “delivering on its promise to ensure British workers come first and have opportunities”.
The Home Office said improved intelligence-sharing with police meant more employers were being caught breaking the rules, where previously checks had relied on random inspections. Ministers insisted the bans were part of a wider package to address sky-high migration, including tougher financial penalties and closing down non-compliant businesses.
But some employers argued the approach risked harming sectors reliant on foreign labour, threatening both their operations and the workers themselves.
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Chris Philp, interim home secretary said, “Immigration remains sky-high, asylum grants are at record levels, and sectors from care to construction are hooked on imported labour because Labour refuse to train British workers or reform welfare to get people into jobs.”
Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said that while licence revocations had increased, around 50,000 organisations could still issue them. He argued higher-skilled visas should require degree-level qualifications and insisted employers must also look locally before going overseas.
The announcement is one of the first under new Shabana Mahmood, home secretary who took on the role in last week’s reshuffle. She has already suggested the UK could suspend visas from countries that refuse to accept the return of migrants with no right to remain.
Ngozi Ekugo is a Snr. Correspondent at Businessday, covering labour market, careers and mobility.
She is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), has an MSc Management from the University Hertfordshire and is an alumna of University of Lagos and Queen’s college.
