The Home Office is investigating reports that migrants are buying fake jobs to remain in the UK.
An investigation by the Times revealed multiple instances of “visa agents” offering to help migrants secure a false record of a job to prove their right to a visa sponsorship, allowing them to stay in the country.
A growing number of people are securing fake jobs through networks behind the schemes, according to the Times.
The newspaper said it spoke with 26 agents and uncovered 250 examples of fake jobs being used to back up skilled worker visas.
Responding to the investigation, a Government spokesperson said: “We are investigating this illegal activity and it will not be tolerated.
“We will do whatever it takes to secure our borders and cut the levels of migration. Skilled worker refusal rates have increased substantially under this government and we’ve seen over 100,000 fewer visa applications in 2025.
“Migration is down two thirds, skilled worker sponsor revocations are also at record levels under this government and we have doubled the cooling off period for repeat offenders.”
The skilled worker visa sponsorship scheme at the heart of the investigation was set up in 2020 when Boris Johnson was prime minister.
It allows migrants to come to live in the UK legally as long as they have a certificate of sponsorship from an approved employer.
The scheme has been used to help fill vacancies in shortage occupations like bricklaying, healthcare support work, and in social care.
But the investigation gave several examples of agents and middlemen, providing fake CVs and bank records and payroll documents, in order to demonstrate migrants had a job authorised by the scheme, which in reality did not exist.
Migrants were asked to pay as much as £13,000 to falsify documentation that allowed them to get a certificate of sponsorship, the investigation found.
Some were left out of pocket after being scammed by unscrupulous actors in the burgeoning black market.
The Government’s political opponents claimed the investigation demonstrated Labour has no control over the immigration system.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “This shocking investigation shows that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has no control over our immigration system.
“Fraudsters are enabling immigrants to enter or stay in this country illegally at will, this makes a mockery of the laws Parliament passes. Shabana Mahmood must urgently grip this problem and end the rampant fraud she is presiding over.”
A Reform UK spokesman said: “This scandal exposes a complete breakdown in border and immigration enforcement under successive governments. A lax sponsor licence system has enabled fraudulent visas, illegal working, and a thriving black market where agents pocket tens of thousands while the Home Office looks the other way.
“Everyone involved who failed to act should be prosecuted and feel the full force of the law.”
Applications for the skilled worker visa fell sharply in 2025, data released in January showed.
The number of people applying for a skilled worker visa stood at 85,500, down 36% year on year from 132,700.
Some 61,000 people meanwhile applied for the health and care worker visa last year, either as a main applicant or dependant, down just over a half (51%) on 123,300 in 2024.
The drops are likely to reflect changes introduced by the Labour Government in summer 2025 to restrict the arrival of foreign nationals, including ending the overseas recruitment of care workers and raising the minimum salary for skilled workers from £38,700 to £41,700.
