Moving to the United Kingdom for work has become significantly more difficult for Nigerians, with official immigration figures showing a sharp decline in work-visa approvals and applications following a series of tighter immigration rules.
The latest UK Home Office statistics show that the number of work visas granted across all nationalities fell to 234,841 in the year ending June 2026, including dependants. That was an 18 per cent decline from the previous year and 62 per cent below the peak recorded in the year ending December 2023. (GOV.UK)
The decline has been particularly pronounced on the routes traditionally used by overseas workers, including the Skilled Worker and Health and Care Worker routes.
According to the Home Office, 120,105 Worker visas were issued in the year ending June 2026, including dependants. This represented a 30 per cent fall from the previous year and was 76 per cent below the December 2023 peak. (GOV.UK)
For Nigerians, the change is especially significant.
A report based on official Home Office occupation data found that 49,498 Nigerians received UK work visas between 2021 and the first quarter of 2026. However, Nigerian applications for work visas have also fallen dramatically from their previous peak. (Punch Newspapers)
What changed?
The UK government introduced a series of measures aimed at reducing legal migration.
In 2024, the minimum salary normally required for a Skilled Worker visa increased from £26,200 to £38,700, while the salary requirement attached to individual occupations also increased. (House of Commons Library)
The rules surrounding dependants also became stricter. Newly arriving overseas care workers are no longer generally permitted to bring their partners and children under the care-worker route. (House of Commons Library)
Further restrictions followed.
From July 2025, overseas recruitment of social care workers ended, while the list of occupations eligible for Skilled Worker sponsorship was reduced. (House of Commons Library)
And from 8 January 2026, new applicants for Skilled Worker, Scale-up and High Potential Individual visas have needed to demonstrate B2-level English, a higher requirement than the previous B1 standard. (House of Commons Library)
Why Nigerians are feeling the impact
Nigeria has historically been one of the major sources of migrants to Britain. The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford reports that Nigerians were among the five most common nationalities arriving in the UK between 2021 and 2025. (Migration Observatory)
This means changes to Britain’s work and immigration system have a particularly large effect on Nigerians seeking opportunities in the country.
The reduction has also been felt in the healthcare sector, which previously provided a major route for Nigerian migration to Britain.
The latest Home Office figures show that the fall in work visas has been driven largely by reductions in Health and Care Worker and Skilled Worker visas. Health and Care Worker visas have fallen particularly sharply since their peak. (GOV.UK)
For Nigerians who are already in Britain, however, the picture is different from that facing people trying to enter the country.
The Home Office continues to record large numbers of visa extensions for people already working in the UK. In the year ending June 2026, extensions on work routes remained high, reflecting the large number of people who entered Britain during the period of exceptionally high recruitment in 2022 and 2023. (GOV.UK)
Britain is still accepting skilled workers
Despite the tightening of the rules, the UK has not closed its work-visa routes.
Skilled Worker and Health and Care Worker routes continue to operate, but applicants generally need to meet stricter requirements concerning their occupation, salary, English language ability and sponsorship.
For Nigerians planning to move to Britain, the message is therefore not that UK work visas are impossible.
Rather, the route has become considerably more selective than it was during the post-pandemic recruitment boom.
Applicants now need to be particularly careful about whether their occupation is eligible, whether their proposed salary meets the relevant threshold and whether the employer is authorised to sponsor workers.
And for people considering healthcare or care work, the changes to the Health and Care Worker route are particularly important.
What this means for Nigerians planning to move to the UK
The days when obtaining a UK job offer could relatively easily translate into a move to Britain have changed.
Nigerians considering the UK should now check the immigration requirements before paying recruitment agencies, tuition fees or other relocation costs.
The UK government is also continuing to consider further changes to settlement and immigration rules. Proposed changes to the time required to qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain have not yet been fully finalised, meaning the rules surrounding permanent settlement remain an important issue for migrants planning their long-term future in Britain. (House of Commons Library)
For Nigerians still hoping to build a career in the UK, the opportunity remains — but the route is becoming more competitive, more regulated and considerably less straightforward than it was just a few years ago.