Departments spent at least £5m sponsoring more than 1,500 overseas workers’ visas
Government departments have spent at least £5 million on more than 1,500 visas for overseas workers since Labour took office, according to official figures. The spending has prompted criticism from opposition politicians and campaign groups, while the Home Secretary has said ministers regularly press her for more visas.
The Ministry of Justice spent £1.2 million on more than 500 visas from July 2024 to the end of 2025, then a further £2 million on 500 visas in the first five months of this year. The Department for Work and Pensions paid £1 million for 330 sponsorship fees, covering visas for less than one per cent of its staff. The MoJ says it pays required sponsorship fees but not individuals’ application costs; the DWP says its payments follow Home Office rules.
- Whitehall spent at least £5 million on over 1,500 worker visas.
- The Ministry of Justice accounted for £3.2 million.
- Departments say the payments follow immigration rules.
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The UK immigration system requires employers, including government departments, to sponsor visas for overseas workers they wish to employ. When a department gets approval to hire someone from abroad, it must pay a sponsorship fee to the Home Office. This is standard practice across both private and public sectors.
Various government departments sponsor visas for overseas workers across different roles and skill levels. The Ministry of Justice and Department for Work and Pensions are among those that regularly do this, though the exact scale of overseas recruitment across government is not always transparent. The total spending on these sponsorships represents public money allocated for staffing purposes.
Opposition politicians and campaign groups have questioned whether government should be spending significant public resources on overseas worker visas, particularly when unemployment or underutilised domestic talent might be available. Supporters of the practice argue it is necessary for filling specialist roles or addressing particular staffing needs. The issue sits at the intersection of immigration policy, public sector management, and how taxpayers' money is spent.
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The case for
Critics contend that government departments should prioritise developing and recruiting domestic workers rather than spending £5 million on overseas visa sponsorships, particularly during periods of economic constraint when public funds are needed elsewhere. They argue this represents a missed opportunity to invest in UK workforce development and potentially undercuts domestic employment prospects.
The case against
Departments maintain that visa sponsorship fees are mandatory under Home Office rules and represent a necessary operational cost for recruiting specialised talent unavailable in the domestic labour market. They argue that effective public service delivery sometimes requires overseas recruitment, and that the absolute spending is modest in relation to government budgets.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Whitehall ‘is spending £5million of taxpayers’ money on visas for foreign workers’”.