MIGRANTS are reportedly paying up to £20,000 for fake jobs in a sprawling “black market visa scam” to avoid deportation, an investigation has suggested.
Secret filming has seemingly exposed unregulated visa agents selling fraudulent work sponsorship that allows people with no real job to apply for skilled worker visas.
The Home Office have vowed to investigate into the scheme after the investigation by The Times.
The schemes are being run using sponsorship certificates issued by genuine Home Office-approved companies, creating the appearance of lawful employment, said the outlet.
On paper, the roles look legitimate, complete with contracts, payslips and tax records.
But in reality, the jobs do not exist and the “workers” never set foot in the workplace, the probe revealed.
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Instead, migrants are reportedly forced to pay back their wages each month, along with extra fees, to keep the paperwork alive and their visa valid.
The Times investigation uncovered what it described as a “mushrooming economy” of middlemen charging illegal fees for visa sponsorship.
Eligible roles include management, IT, finance and marketing jobs paying more than £41,700 a year, as well as lower-paid shortage roles such as care workers, bricklayers and graphic designers.
While the documents apparently show high salaries and steady employment, many of those using the schemes are said to work cash-in-hand elsewhere or are not working at all.
Those caught face deportation or entry bans, but the reward is the chance to remain in the UK long term.
After five years, skilled workers can apply for permanent residency using the fake employment trail.
The outlet said it spoke with 26 agents and uncovered 250 examples of fake jobs being used to back up skilled worker visas.
It says fake jobs are being sold to migrants for up to £20,000, as part of a fraudulent scheme to secure work visas and stay in the UK unlawfully.
The skilled worker visa sponsorship scheme at the heart of the investigation was set up in 2020 when Boris Johnson was Prime Minister.
It allows migrants to come to live in the UK legally as long as they have a certificate of sponsorship from an approved employer.
The scheme has been used to help fill vacancies in shortage occupations like bricklaying, healthcare support work, and in social care.
But the investigation gave several examples of agents and middlemen, providing fake CVs and bank records and payroll documents, in order to demonstrate migrants had a job authorised by the scheme, which in reality did not exist.
Migrants were asked to pay as much as £13,000 to falsify documentation that allowed them to get a certificate of sponsorship, the investigation found.
And some were left out of pocket after being scammed by unscrupulous actors in the burgeoning black market.
The government said it would launch an “urgent investigation” into the scheme after the Times alerted the Home Office to its findings.
Responding to the investigation, a Government spokesperson said: “We are investigating this illegal activity and it will not be tolerated.
“We will do whatever it takes to secure our borders and cut the levels of migration. Skilled worker refusal rates have increased substantially under this government and we’ve seen over 100,000 fewer visa applications in 2025.
“Migration is down two thirds, skilled worker sponsor revocations are also at record levels under this government and we have doubled the cooling off period for repeat offenders.”
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