Car washes and vape shops can still sponsor skilled foreign workers despite visa changes
The rules were tightened in July 2025 to restrict the scheme mostly to graduate-level employees who would be earning at least £41,700.
Despite stricter visa regulations, over 1,900 small high street businesses, including mini-marts, vape shops, and car washes, remain authorized to sponsor skilled foreign workers under a program initially designed for high-earning individuals, as uncovered by BBC Verify.
The Home Office scheme permits registered employers to recruit overseas workers who meet specific skill criteria. In July 2025, the rules were tightened, largely limiting the scheme to graduate-level employees earning at least £41,700.
However, a year after these changes, BBC Verify found that more than 1,500 grocery and convenience stores, 150 taxi operators, 100 barber shops, and dozens of car washes and vape shops are still on the register, enabling them to sponsor visa applicants. Over 100 of these businesses were added to the skilled worker sponsorship list *after* the rule changes. It's important to note that being on the register does not guarantee approval for individual visa applications.
On Thursday, Health Secretary Yvette Cooper stated that the government would "make sure that the rules are being properly enforced because we cannot have employers getting round the rules or finding different ways to deviate."
Two months prior, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood initiated an urgent review into the presence of vape shops, barbers, and car washes on the skilled worker sponsor register, citing concerns about "potential misuse of the system." At that time, the Home Office indicated that any businesses found abusing the system would have their licenses revoked.
A Home Office spokesperson confirmed, "We have raised the skilled worker threshold and over 100 occupations are now ineligible for new skilled worker visas."
It is understood that some companies added to the register after the rule changes may have applied before the new rules took effect. Additionally, some companies might have remained on the register because their approval predated July 2025 or they are sponsoring workers already in the UK.
Currently, over 120,000 businesses hold licenses to sponsor skilled workers. The skilled worker scheme was introduced post-Brexit to allow employers to recruit workers after the end of EU free movement. Smaller firms pay a £611 fee to join the register, while larger businesses (over 50 staff) pay £1,682. UK Visas and Immigration service may conduct visits during the application process.
Before July of last year, foreign hires could qualify for sponsorship if their qualifications met an A-Level equivalent and they earned at least £38,700 in most cases. Since the rule change, non-graduate professions, such as shop managers, are no longer eligible. Higher English-language skill requirements were also introduced in January of this year.
The Home Office reported 68,067 skilled worker visas granted in the 12 months leading up to March this year—29,745 to main applicants and 38,322 to their dependants—a 30% decrease from the previous year. IT professionals were the most common recipients, followed by those in finance. The decline in approvals was primarily attributed to food preparation and hospitality trades no longer qualifying for the scheme.
While jobs like sales and retail assistants, taxi drivers, and chauffeurs are generally ineligible for skilled worker visas, some exemptions exist for occupations with UK shortages, such as bricklayers, carpenters, and nursing assistants.
In 2025, the Home Office revoked 3,299 licenses, a significant increase from 347 in 2023. The register does not specify the number of sponsorship certificates or visas issued per business, nor the types of roles hired. However, Home Office guidance mandates that firms offer genuine jobs meeting skill and salary rules, and only sponsor workers for eligible positions.
Due to businesses being listed only by name, their industry is not always clear. BBC Verify identified the over 1,900 small high-street businesses with sponsorship licenses by cross-referencing their names and locations with Companies House records and Google business listings, and by analyzing company names to confirm if mini-marts, car washes, and similar small operations were on the list.
Approximately 1,700 of these businesses were in England, over 140 in Scotland, more than 80 in Wales, and just two in Northern Ireland.
Separately, BBC Verify discovered 60 businesses on the register that had been fined a combined £2.5 million for employing illegal workers between April 2024 and December 2025.
A Home Office spokesperson stated, "Illegal working will not be accepted, and businesses who face two or more illegal working penalties of up to £60,000, or fail to pay a penalty the first time, will have their license to hire workers revoked."
Dr. Madeleine Sumption, director of the University of Oxford's Migration Observatory, explained that businesses on the register before the rule changes can continue to employ previously sponsored individuals. "But they can't now bring in a new person to do those jobs."
Toby Way, a lawyer at WestBridge Business Immigration, which assists businesses with sponsorship applications, told BBC Verify that while most sponsorship approvals are legitimate, "We come across a lot of exaggeration and some downright lying about sponsored roles."
He added, "Hotels and restaurants have been hit massively by the rule changes. They're now unable to sponsor a chef or a manager, but they might claim they need someone for marketing or book-keeping, because those roles are on the temporary shortage list."
"We know the Home Office looks at the finances of the businesses now and whether their revenue or profit means they can pay the required salary."
Immigration lawyer Joanna Hunt of DAC Beachcroft noted the difficulty for a high street shop to justify degree-level sponsorship. "Subject to a few exceptions, a job needs to be skilled to 'degree level' to allow a business to sponsor a worker to fill it and the Home Office will consider if the role fits with the type of business the sponsor operates. A high street shop may find this requirement difficult to demonstrate."
Additional reporting by Rob England and Libby Rogers.