Exposed, the ‘expert employee’ ruse that noticed 53 asylum claims bounce to five,300 in two years
Rocketing numbers of foreign workers are lodging asylum claims in a bid to stay in Britain permanently, figures reveal.
The new ‘backdoor to Britain’ has witnessed at least a 100-fold increase in the number of foreign nationals arriving here as ‘skilled workers’ and then claiming to be refugees.
Asylum claims made by this category of visa-holder jumped from 53 in 2022 to 5,300 in the first ten months of last year, an official report said.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the ‘deeply concerning’ figures showed ‘abuse’ of the work visa system.
It comes after the Daily Mail revealed last April how more than 21,000 asylum claims in a year had been lodged by foreign nationals who came to Britain under other types of visas, including students, visitors and seasonal workers.
The report into skilled worker visas – by government spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) – found a series of shortcomings in the Home Office‘s performance.
The department ‘does not fully understand’ what happens to those who migrate to Britain under the scheme, the NAO found, raising the prospect some are remaining illegally in the UK after their visas expire.
It also revealed the Home Office expected 360,000 migrants to come here on skilled worker visas in the first three years after the scheme was relaunched in 2020 – but the actual figure was 931,000.
Foreign nationals arriving in the UK as ‘skilled workers’ and then lodging asylum claims have increased 100-fold
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp (pictured) said the ‘deeply concerning’ figures showed ‘abuse’ of the work visa system
That huge underestimate was already known to be a driving factor in record net migration – the difference between those coming to live long-term in Britain and those emigrating – which peaked at 906,000 in the 12 months to June 2023.
The skilled worker route includes those coming to work in the health and social care sector who, including dependants, totalled nearly 383,000 in 2023 alone.
The NAO report, published yesterday, said: ‘The higher-than-anticipated use of the route… has consequences, such as… the number of people claiming asylum after entering the UK on a skilled worker visa rising from 53 in 2022 to 5,300 in 2024.
‘The Home Office reviewed the use of the route in 2022 but has not assessed the impact of changes to entry requirements. As a result, it does not fully understand how the route is being used, its contribution to the economy, or impacts on skill shortages across different sectors. Further, it does not monitor what happens to people at the end of their visa period.’
Officials lack data on whether foreign nationals comply with the time limits imposed by their visas, the report added.
‘In 2020, the Home Office analysed exit checks to estimate the proportion of people who left the country at the end of their visa. It has not repeated checks since introducing the skilled worker visa.’
Tory frontbencher Mr Philp said: ‘I am deeply concerned people who have entered the UK on temporary work visas are now trying to claim asylum. This is an abuse of the system and spurious asylum applications should be rapidly rejected.
‘The truth is that recent immigration numbers have been far too high.
‘That is why we have tabled amendments to the Borders Bill to create a binding annual immigration limit set by Parliament, introduce a £38,000 blanket salary threshold for work visas and disapply the Human Rights Act from immigration matters, to end spurious claims being granted.
‘We have concrete ideas to fix this – we’ll see if Labour votes for them in Parliament in the coming weeks.’
The skilled worker route includes those coming to work in the health and social care sector who, including dependants, totalled nearly 383,000 in 2023 alone (file photo)
The Conservatives tightened the rules on skilled worker visas a year ago – including barring care workers from bringing family members with them to Britain. It led to the number of health and care visas being granted in the ten months to February this year – including dependants – falling to 75,100 compared with 343,700 in the equivalent period in 2023-24.
A Migration Watch UK spokesman said: ‘It’s not unreasonable to assume a link between ending the right of care workers to bring dependants and the surge in asylum applications that followed.’
The NAO urged ministers to publish a full evaluation of the visa scheme within three months. Another assessment should be carried out by the end of the year into what happens to migrants at the end of their visas, it added.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Under the last government there were a large volume of visas granted seeing net migration in the millions.
‘This government is getting a grip of this problem.
‘Under our Plan for Change, our upcoming immigration White Paper will set out a comprehensive plan to restore order to our broken immigration system, linking immigration, skills and visa systems to grow our domestic workforce, end reliance on overseas labour and boost economic growth.’
