U.K. Visa Fees Leaving Science And Other Sectors Struggling For Talent

Forbes

16-04-2025

Scientists in a lab.
The visa fees the U.K. government charges to foreign workers, and the British companies that want to hire them, have steadily increased in recent years, as successive governments try to reduce the amount of people immigrating to the country. This is having serious consequences for science and research, as well as many other sectors, amid historic labor shortfalls across the British economy.
According to Reuters, the high and increasing cost of visas - which includes the visa itself as well as other charges such as paying into the country's national health service as well as fees for any accompanying family members - could be deterring potential foreign workers, particularly scientists and engineers, from looking to fill vacancies in those sectors in the U.K.
It couldn't come at a worse time. The U.K. is already struggling to plug massive holes in its labor market, across various sectors. On top of the visa fees, complicated and changing employment regulations in the country's relatively recently-introduced Skilled Worker Visa route are 'hampering' businesses trying to hire the talent they need. At the same time, critical sectors such as care work are also seeing massive shortages, as people are put off from the U.K. and seek work elsewhere, and amid a lack of domestic workers to fill the gaps.
The current U.K. government under the Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer has made economic growth in the U.K. its main priority, and has said on several occasions it will review the visa system to try and make things easier. At the same time, however, the government is also under pressure to keep immigration numbers down. Parties and commentators to the right of British politics have criticized the government over its handling of a perceived 'crisis' of immigration in the country and there is continued focus on the regular 'net migration' figures which show just how many people are coming.
Nonetheless, the need for foreign workers in the U.K. is clear, as it is across many countries in Western Europe. In light of this, Julia King, a former member of the U.K.'s House of Lords, told Reuters the country's current visa fee regime is an "act of
national self-harm." Many other commentators have for years argued that the U.K. cannot achieve its growth ambitions without recruiting potentially hundreds of thousands of foreign workers.
As it stands, however, the current recruitment and visa system is preventing many U.K. businesses getting the workers they need.
"Whatever your views on the politics of immigration, the fact is that we don't have enough skilled workers in the U.K. to grow our economy,' wrote employment lawyer David Winnie in a recent op-ed. 'Unless the shortcomings of the current system are addressed – and hopefully they will be in future updates – many businesses could be hindered from reaching their full potential.'
The government told Reuters that they are conducting a review into the system and will issue a policy paper to "to restore order to our broken immigration system" while also trying to grow the domestic workforce, thereby reducing the need for foreign workers.