According to the report, a Nigerian woman, who paid £10,000 to an “agent” for a skilled worker visa that was supposed to secure her a job as a carer in the UK, has been left stranded. The report showed “how the skilled worker visa system is being abused, with middlemen allegedly being paid huge sums of money to arrange jobs in the UK as carers that do not exist. “About 15 of the 35–40 people who generally come to the weekly food bank have skilled worker visas. As time went on, there were no shifts.”According to the report, in the 12 months to March 2023, 170,993 skilled worker visas have been awarded. In the health and care sector alone, grants have increased over two and a half times and represent over half of all work visas issued in the same period.

Source: Punch August 25, 2023 04:06 UTC