Nepali Workers at Risk as UK Tightens Skilled Worker Visa Rules

 

London: Nepali workers in the United Kingdom are facing growing uncertainty after the British government tightened its Skilled Worker visa rules and increased scrutiny of employers sponsoring foreign workers.

Many Nepali workers have reportedly faced financial and psychological exploitation by employers, including being paid less than agreed, working longer hours, being denied paid holidays, and having pension contributions deducted from their salaries without being properly enrolled in pension schemes.

One Nepali woman, whose name has been changed to Melissa Thapa, completed an MBA at a British university in 2021. After completing her two-year post-study work visa, she decided to remain in the UK rather than return to Nepal.

On January 9, 2024, she obtained Skilled Worker visa sponsorship from a restaurant. At the request of her employer, she paid more than £4,500 to a solicitor for her visa application.

Her initial employment arrangement stated that she would work 37 hours per week for an annual salary of £21,500. However, she says she was later required to work up to 42 hours a week while receiving only £400 per week.

She also says she did not receive payslips for most of her employment. Payslips for May, June and July 2024 showed deductions described as “Nest pension contributions.” However, when she contacted Nest, she was reportedly told that she had never been enrolled in its pension scheme.

Melissa says she did not receive any paid holiday for around 26 months between January 2024 and March 2026. After facing what she describes as severe financial and psychological exploitation and poor working conditions, she has taken her case to an employment tribunal.

“I reached the tribunal because I was exploited even in a country like the UK,” she said. “Even if I have to return to Nepal, I will continue fighting for my rights until the end.”

She has also been unemployed for several months, making her daily life increasingly difficult.

Employer licence cancellations create another crisis

Nepali workers who depend on employer sponsorship are also facing problems when their employers lose or have their sponsorship licences suspended.

Isha, another Nepali worker whose name has been changed, had been working as a manager at a restaurant in central London. She spent around Rs 2.5 million while extending her visa twice and had been working at the restaurant for more than three years.

She was expecting to become eligible for permanent residency in the UK in about a year and a half. However, her situation became uncertain after the Home Office began action against the restaurant over alleged non-compliance with immigration rules.

If an employer’s sponsorship licence is suspended or revoked, or if the employer does not renew it, sponsored workers may have a limited period—generally 60 days—to find another sponsor or leave the UK.

Isha says finding another sponsor for a managerial position has become extremely difficult because the required annual salary is now above £41,000.

“I cannot find a company that can easily offer such a salary, and getting another job is also difficult,” she said. “I left my university studies midway to switch to a work visa. Now I feel like I have nowhere to go.”

Stricter rules have narrowed opportunities

The UK has tightened its Skilled Worker visa system in recent years. Changes introduced from July 2025 increased the salary requirements and made a number of non-graduate occupations ineligible for new Skilled Worker visa applications.

According to immigration adviser Bishnu Kharel, many employers have lost or had their sponsorship licences suspended after government inspections found that they had failed to meet compliance requirements.

He said employers have faced action for failing to pay workers the agreed salary, paying below the required minimum, denying paid holidays, failing to provide weekly rest, or employing workers in positions different from those stated on their Certificates of Sponsorship.

Business owners in the UK also say the new rules have made it increasingly difficult to recruit workers from Nepal and other countries.

A London-based restaurant operator said higher salary requirements, compliance obligations and administrative pressures have made it increasingly difficult for businesses to sponsor overseas workers.

Skilled Worker visas are declining

The Skilled Worker visa system became an important route for recruiting overseas workers after Brexit ended free movement between the UK and the European Union. However, the British government has increasingly tightened the system as part of efforts to reduce immigration.

According to the UK Home Office, 68,067 Skilled Worker visas were granted in the 12 months to March this year. Of these, 29,745 were main applicants and 38,322 were dependants. The total was around 30 percent lower than the previous year.

IT professionals accounted for the largest share of Skilled Worker visa recipients, followed by workers in the financial sector. The number of visas has also fallen because many hospitality-related occupations are no longer eligible under the revised rules.

A Home Office spokesperson told the BBC that the government had raised the skill threshold for Skilled Worker visas and that more than 100 occupations would no longer be eligible for new applications.

Previously, overseas workers could qualify for sponsorship with an annual salary of at least £38,700 and qualifications equivalent to A-levels. Under the revised immigration rules, the salary threshold has increased and several non-graduate occupations, including shop managers, are no longer eligible.

The tightening of the rules is creating additional uncertainty for Nepali students planning to switch from study visas to work visas and for existing Nepali workers whose immigration status depends on their employers.

With sponsorship licences increasingly subject to government scrutiny, workers are being urged to carefully check their employment contracts, salary payments, payslips, pension contributions and the immigration compliance record of their sponsoring employers.