Car washes and vape shops can still sponsor skilled foreign workers despite visa changes
BBC Verify has discovered that over 1,900 small businesses, including vape shops and car washes, remain licensed to sponsor foreign workers despite recent government efforts to tighten visa rules. The Home Office is currently reviewing these licenses amid concerns regarding potential system misuse.
Why it matters
This reveals a potential gap in immigration policy enforcement, where businesses not typically associated with high-skilled labor retain the ability to sponsor visas.
By Alison Benjamin and Daniel Wainwright Published 15 minutes ago More than 1,900 small high street businesses including mini-marts, vape shops and car washes are licensed to sponsor foreign workers under a specialist scheme intended for high-earning individuals despite visa rules being tightened, BBC Verify has found.
The Home Office scheme allows registered employers to recruit workers from overseas who meet a certain skill level. The rules were tightened in July 2025 to restrict the scheme mostly to graduate-level employees who would be earning at least £41,700.
But a year on from the rule change, BBC Verify has found more than 1,500 grocery and convenience stores, 150 taxi operators, 100 barber shops, and dozens of car washes and vape shops are still on the register and able to sponsor people to apply for visas.
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