A total of 466 work visas were issued between the beginning of April and the end of December last year.

Although there are three months to go until the end of the financial year, the numbers appear well down on 2024-25 when 1,082 work visas were issued.

Treasury has released the figures in response to Freedom of Information requests.

Latest statistics have been provided for the period October 1 to December 31 as an update to those previously released for April 1 to September 30.

Together, they show that of the 466 work visas issues in the current financial year to the end of December, 133 were granted for initial entry clearance, 284 for further leave to remain and 49 for indefinite leave to remain.

A breakdown of the nationality of visa holders is given the FoI response, although numbers don’t tally.

They show of 336 foreign nationals issued a visa between April and December last year, 21 were Chinese, 112 Filipino, 58 Indian, 19 Nigerian, 20 Pakistani, 76 South African, 22 Zimbabwean and eight Kenyan.

We reported in August that growing numbers of adult and child dependants of migrant workers have been granted entry clearance visas.

A written reply to a Tynwald question from Tim Glover MHK last year showed a total of 6,026 migrant worker visas were issued between January 2020 and July 28 this year.

Of these 1,436 were for child dependants, with numbers rising from 58 in 2020 to reach 452 in 2024, and 236 in the first seven months of 2025.

Adult dependants totalled 1,185 and have risen from 73 in 2020 to reach 370 in 2024 and 181 between January 1 and July 28 last year.

The latest FoI responses do not give a breakdown showing numbers of child and adult dependants.

They do, however, give details of salaries earned by visa holders, which range from £21,658 to £392,000. Most are in the £20,000 to £30,000 wage bracket.

The minimum salary level for worker migrants was increased from £20,800 to £25,447.50 in October last year, the first time it had been uprated since 2018.

In December, then Treasury Minister Dr Alex Allinson announced more plans to tighten immigration rules.

These included further increases in minimum salary requirements and greater restrictions on the eligibility for those who wish to bring in dependants.

Dr Allinson said the intention was to bring these changes before the Council of Ministers early in the new year before going to Tynwald.

Four categories of work visa are included in the figures released under FoI - Worker Migrant Visas (Worker Migrant, Intra Company Transfer, Health & Care Visa), Business Migrant routes, Temporary Worker, and British Ancestry and Domestic Workers.

Entry clearance follows an application from outside the Isle of Man and UK for initial entry.

Further leave to remain includes renewal of a visa or a change to a different visa.

An application for indefinite leave to remain would usually follow a period of continuous lawful residence in the Isle of Man.