Immigrant workers and their families

Summary

A request for detailed statistics on Isle of Man worker migrant visas, including nationality breakdowns and dependent counts, was partially fulfilled with aggregate data tables, while specific nationality lists were withheld due to privacy concerns.

Key Facts

• The Treasury provided a breakdown of 7,341 total migrant work visas issued since January 1, 2018.
• Data includes categories for Worker Migrants, Seasonal Migrants, ICT Migrants, and Health Visa holders.
• Information on specific nationalities was withheld to prevent the identification of individuals.
• The response covers visa types including Entry Clearance, Further Leave To Remain, and Indefinite Leave to Remain.
• The request was received on February 10, 2026, and the outcome was issued on March 6, 2026.

Data Disclosed

• 7341
• 2493
• 1674
• 1402
• 714
• 303
• 299
• 259
• 238
• 208
• 01 January 2018
• 2026-02-10
• 2026-03-06
• 8 pages
• 3 documents

Exemptions Cited

• Section 25(2)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act (Absolutely exempt personal information)
• Section 25(2)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act (Absolutely exempt personal information)

Original Request

Please provide - 1. a breakdown of immigration work visas issued through the worker migrant visa route from 01 January 2018 to the present day; and 2. a subcategory data list of countries of origin of the aforementioned work visa holders[ and 3. the number of child and/or other dependants of each of the workers concerned; and 4. a copy of the changes to the worker immigration policy reported in the Examiner today under the heading "Safeguards "stripped away" in immigration shake up".

Data Tables (4)

Full Response Text

Appendix 1 Visa Category and Application Category Totals Worker (ICT) Migrant 400 Entry Clearance 325 Further Leave To Remain 75 Worker (ICT) Migrant - Child Dependent 44 Entry Clearance 30 Further Leave To Remain 14 Worker (ICT) Migrant- Adult Dependent 36 Entry Clearance 23 Further Leave To Remain 13 Worker (Seasonal) Migrant 260 Entry Clearance 260 Worker Migrant 2493 Entry Clearance 1227 Further Leave To Remain 981 Indefinite Leave to Remain 285 Worker Migrant - Adult Dependant 1263 Entry Clearance 704 Further Leave To Remain 430 Indefinite Leave to Remain 129 Worker Migrant - Child Dependant 1430 Entry Clearance 765 Further Leave To Remain 495 Indefinite Leave to Remain 170 Worker Migrant - Health Visa 882 Entry Clearance 478 Further Leave To Remain 368 Indefinite Leave to Remain 36 Worker Migrant - Health Visa - Adult Dependant 218 Entry Clearance 101 Further Leave To Remain 115 Indefinite Leave to Remain 2 Worker Migrant - Health Visa - Child Dependant 315 Entry Clearance 149 Further Leave To Remain 160 Indefinite Leave to Remain 6 Grand Total 7341

Appendix 2 Nationality of worker migrant visa applicants Totals Albanian Algerian 32 American 107 Angolan Argentinean 8 Armenian Australian 37 Austrian Bahamian Bangladeshi 101 Barbadian 12 Belarusian Belgian Bhutanese 6 Bolivian Botswana Brazilian 64 British National Overseas Bulgarian 18 Burmese 15 Burundian Cameroonian Canadian 39 Chilean Chinese 576 Colombian Costa Rican 27 Cypriot Czech Dominican Dutch 6 Egyptian 42 Estonian Filipino 1674 Finnish French Gambian Georgian 8 German 14 Ghanaian 238 Greek 11 Hong Kong Hungarian Indian 714 Indonesian 124 Iranian 31 Iraqi 12 Israeli 40 Italian 7 Jamaican 62 Japanese 16 Jordanian Kazakhstani Kenyan 208 Kosovan Laotian Lebanese Lesotho Liberian Lithuanian Malawian 26 Malaysian 96 Maltese Mauritian Mexican Moroccan 14 Mozambican Namibian Nepalese 32 New Zealander Nigerian 303 Pakistani 299 Polish 15 Portuguese 20 Romanian 12 Russian 22 Rwandan 21 Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucian 11 Saudi Senegalese Serbian Sierra Leonean 6 Singaporean 23 Slovakian South African 1402 South Korean 9 Spanish 8 Sri Lankan 68 Sudanese 37 Swazi Swedish 7 Swiss Syrian 6 Taiwanese 32 Tanzanian 7 Thai 15 Trinidadian or Tobagonian 8 Turkish 85 Ugandan 61 Ukrainian 27 Uruguayan Venezuelan Vietnamese 21 Yemenite Zambian 15 Zimbabwean 259 Grand Total 7341

Freedom of Information
Seyrsnys Fysseree

The Treasury Government Office,
Douglas Isle of Man, IM1 3PU

Telephone: (01624) 685605 Email: FOI.Treasury@gov.im

Government Website: www.gov.im

Our ref: 5295577 06 March 2026

Dear ###,

We write further to your request, received 10 February 2026, which states:

"Please provide -

1. a breakdown of immigration work visas issued through the worker migrant visa route from 01 January 2018 to the present day; and

2. a subcategory data list of countries of origin of the aforementioned work visa holders and

3. the number of child and/or other dependants of each of the workers concerned; and

4. a copy of the changes to the worker immigration policy reported in the Examiner today under the heading "Safeguards "stripped away" in immigration shake up"."

Our response to your request is as follows:

Part 1 Please find attached Appendix 1 which shows the number of migrant work visas approved since 01 January 2018 to the date of the request.

Part 2 Please find attached Appendix 2 which shows the number of nationalities in relation to the migrant work visas approved since 01 January 2018 to the date of the request.

The information within in Appendix 2 contains personal information and in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because it is absolutely exempt under section 25(2)(a)&(b) of the Act (absolutely exempt personal information).

The nationalities are classed as personal data because it is where an individual is from and can be used to identify an individual. It is acknowledged that this information on

its own is not always a direct identifier, however when it is combined with other data it can identify an individual.

The low numbers relating to nationalities, as well as the other information requested, could be combined with other information in the public domain, personal information of the individual or information from other sources, which increases the risk of individuals being identified.

In addition to the above, the information is not only disclosed to you it is also disclosed to the world at large, when it is published on the freedom of information disclosure log. Therefore someone with some existing knowledge or someone with the motivation to identify an individual would be able to do so from other available resources. You may not wish to identify the individuals from information disclosed, however there is a risk that others might have the motivation and know how to do so.

Part 3
As well as the number of migrant work visas approved, Appendix 1 also shows the number of visas issued to the adult and child dependents of the main applicants of the migrant work visa, since 01 January 2018 to the date of the request.

Part 4
The previous Points Based System Tier 2 Route of the Immigration Rules was replaced by the Worker Migrant route (Appendix W) on the 6 April 2018. Following this date, migrants applying for entry to the Isle of Man who would have previously applied as a PBS Tier 2 Migrant must meet the requirements set out in Appendix W of the Immigration Rules. Migrants in possession of a PBS Tier 2 visa were deemed to hold a visa under Appendix W of the Immigration Rules.

These changes were introduced as employers found it difficult to recruit the skilled workers their business required. The Worker Migrant route enables employers to recruit non-British or Irish citizens to fill a genuine vacancy that cannot be filled by a Settled Worker.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, under section 20 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you, whether free of charge or on payment of a fee.

All of the information that you have requested for this part of your request is publicly available in the statement of changes that details the closure of the PBS Tier 2 Route, and the introduction of the Worker Migrant route. The information can be found at the following link: stattement-of-changes-and-explanatory-memo.pdf By way of advice and assistance more information about Appendix W and the Worker Migrant route can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.im/categories/travel-traffic-and- motoring/immigration/work/workers/worker-migrant-visa/

Furthermore the current Immigration Rules, and all Statement of Changes to these Immigration Rules, can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.im/categories/travel-traffic-and-motoring/immigration/immigration- rules-and-associated-policy/

Please quote the reference number 5295577 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.