Written questions by Stephenson.

Whether foreign language courses taught at UK institutions are proof of English language for visa applications.

All applicants must be able to demonstrate the required level of English Language for any visa application as per the Immigration Rules.There are a variety of ways applicants can meet the English language requirement set out on the Immigration Rules, including holding a degree-level qualification. Guidance on how a person can meet the requirements for the route they are applying under is available on the gov.uk website.

Pursuant to the answer to written question 78022, what proportion of the 7,130 arrests have resulted in one or more deportations since 5 July 2024.

The information you have requested is published at Illegal working and enforcement activity to the end of December 2025 - GOV.UK

What proportion of Secure English Language Tests were obtained via remote testing in 2024-25.

The current Secure English Language Testing contract is one that was tendered and awarded for physical test sites therefore, remote testing is not currently offered as part of the Secure English Language Test service.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the move to remote and digital by default English language testing for UK visas on the public purse.

Today’s Secure English Language Testing concessions collect all applicants’ fees with no return to the department to cover the costs of managing and overseeing delivery. There will be a net positive benefit to the public purse for this new HO ELT service.

If she will make an estimate of the a) number and b) proportion of dependent visa holders who are employed.

An estimate of the number and proportion of dependant visa holders who are employed is not available, as not all the required information is held. HMRC and Home Office have introduced a data sharing process to match visa data to administrative tax data. The Home Office published a research report on 12 May 2025 on the earnings, employment, and Income Tax liabilities of visa holders on Sponsored Work (Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, and Senior or Specialist Worker (Global Business Mobility)) and Family routes. This report covers the cohort of visa holders (and their dependants) whose visas were granted between April 2019 and March 2023 The publication estimated that at least 45% of adult dependants of those granted Skilled Worker entry clearance visas and 63% of those granted Skilled Worker extensions of stay had PAYE earnings in financial year 2023 to 2024. For Health and Care Worker dependants, this was 67% and 70%, and for Global Business Mobility dependants, 25% and 24%, respectively.

Whether her Department monitors divorce filings to check visa compliance for family visa holders.

Family migration must be based on a genuine and subsisting relationships. The current probationary period before a spouse or partner can apply for settlement is a minimum of 5 years and requires more than one grant of permission to enter or stay to test whether a relationship is genuine and continuing to subsist.If the marriage or partnership breaks down permanently while the migrant partner still has limited permission to stay, or once the migrant partner has obtained settlement, the sponsoring partner can write to the Home Office and provide any information relevant to the migrant partner’s continued immigration status.The Home Office will consider this information and may cancel the former partner’s permission or revoke any settled status if it can be established this permission was obtained by deception.

If she will make an estimate of the average number of dependent visas sponsored by Minister of Religion visa holders.

The Home Office publishes data on dependants sponsored by holders of Minister of Religion visas in the ‘Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK’.Data on dependants sponsored by holders of Minister of Religion visas is published in table Data_Vis_D02 of the ‘Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes detailed datasets, year ending September 2025’.

What proportion of organisations on the register of licensed sponsors have sponsored visas a) in the last 10 years and b) since 4 July 2024.

The Home Office publishes data on Visa Sponsors that are B rated in the ‘Register of licensed sponsors: workers - GOV.UK’.Please note - published data shows the number of licensed sponsors over time but does not include the number of visas associated with each organisation. The Home Office publishes data on the number of visas sponsored by organisations over the past 10 years, as well as data since 4 July 2024, in the ‘Migration transparency data - GOV.UK’.Data on the number of visas sponsored by licensed organisations is published in table SP_01 of the ‘Sponsorship transparency data: July to September 2025’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from 2014 Q1 up to the end of 2025 Q3.

With reference to the press release entitled Record numbers of visa sponsor licences revoked for rule breaking, published on 11 September 2025, how many of those license revocations resulted in visa holders leaving the UK.

The Home Office does not publish data linking visa holder returns to licence revocations. However, general returns data is available and has been referenced instead.The Home Office publishes returns data from the UK in the ‘Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK’.Returns data from the UK can be found in table RET_D01 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets, year ending September 2025’.Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from 2024 Q1 to 2025 Q3.The Home Office publishes data on Visa Sponsors that are subject to suspension and revocation action in the ‘Migration transparency data - GOV.UK’.Data on suspension and revocations for Visa Sponsors are published in table SC_01 of the ‘Sponsorship transparency data: July to September 2025’Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from 2012 Q1 up to 2025 Q3.

How many visa sponsors have been a) suspended, b) revoked and c) issued with a warning since 4 July 2024 by i) visa route and ii) month.

The Home Office does not publish data linking visa holder returns to licence revocations. However, general returns data is available and has been referenced instead.The Home Office publishes returns data from the UK in the ‘Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK’.Returns data from the UK can be found in table RET_D01 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets, year ending September 2025’.Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from 2024 Q1 to 2025 Q3.The Home Office publishes data on Visa Sponsors that are subject to suspension and revocation action in the ‘Migration transparency data - GOV.UK’.Data on suspension and revocations for Visa Sponsors are published in table SC_01 of the ‘Sponsorship transparency data: July to September 2025’Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from 2012 Q1 up to 2025 Q3.

How many civil penalties have been issued to employers sponsoring workers under work‑related visa routes since 4 July 2024 by a) visa route and b) sector.

Information on illegal working civil penalty statistics has been published since 2016 as part of the Home Office Immigration Transparency Data. This can be found at immigration-enforcement-data-jul-sep-2025 on tab CP02.To identify specific employers sponsoring workers under work‑related visa routes would require collating and verifying individual data from different records, which could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.

How many visa-sponsoring organisations are B-rated; and how many visas those organisations sponsored as of October 2025.

The Home Office publishes data on Visa Sponsors that are B rated in the ‘Register of licensed sponsors: workers - GOV.UK’.Please note - published data shows the number of licensed sponsors over time but does not include the number of visas associated with each organisation. The Home Office publishes data on the number of visas sponsored by organisations over the past 10 years, as well as data since 4 July 2024, in the ‘Migration transparency data - GOV.UK’.Data on the number of visas sponsored by licensed organisations is published in table SP_01 of the ‘Sponsorship transparency data: July to September 2025’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from 2014 Q1 up to the end of 2025 Q3.

How many cases of (a) suspected and (b) confirmed exploitation involving holders of work‑related visas have been recorded since 4 July 2024 by (i) visa route and (ii) month.

The Home Office publishes data on Visa Sponsors that are B rated in the ‘Register of licensed sponsors: workers - GOV.UK’.Please note - published data shows the number of licensed sponsors over time but does not include the number of visas associated with each organisation. The Home Office publishes data on the number of visas sponsored by organisations over the past 10 years, as well as data since 4 July 2024, in the ‘Migration transparency data - GOV.UK’.Data on the number of visas sponsored by licensed organisations is published in table SP_01 of the ‘Sponsorship transparency data: July to September 2025’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from 2014 Q1 up to the end of 2025 Q3.

How many immigrants found to have been working illegally since 2020 have been making National Insurance payments.

The Home Office does not hold the data you have requested.The Home Office takes the issue of illegal working seriously and continues to take robust enforcement action against those who breach immigration laws.

If she will make an estimate of the average workforce size of businesses that are eligible to sponsor worker visas.

Any UK business can apply for a sponsor licence, provided they comply with relevant requirements. Of the businesses listed on the register of licenced sponsors, the vast majority are Small and Medium-sized enterprises.This Government will continue to reduce net migration, reduce our reliance on overseas recruitment and back British workers by investing in our resident workforce.

How many visas a) the Metropolitan Police Service and b) Police Scotland have sponsored since 4 July 2024.

UKVI does not publish data on visas sponsored by individual sponsors.

How many visas a) the Department for Culture Media and Sport, b) the Arts Council, c) the National Archives, d) the British Library, e) the British Museum, f) Historic England, g) the Imperial War Museum, h) the National Gallery, i) the Science Museum Group, j) the Victoria and Albert Museum, k) the Wallace Collection, l) the BBC, m) Channel 4, n) Historic Royal Palaces and o) the Royal Parks have sponsored since 4 July 2024.

The requested data is not held centrally in a reportable format.

How many newly arrived illegal migrants have been provided Government funded accommodation since 4 August 2025.

In accordance with the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, the Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and subsistence support whilst their application for asylum is being considered.Data, published quarterly, on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including accommodation type, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab of our most recent statistics release. Immigration system statistics data tables - www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release, with the latest information published 30 June 2025, and the next quarterly figures are due to be released later this month in November 2025.

If she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of (a) consultations and (b) reviews conducted by her Department since 4 July 2024.

The information requested is not centrally held in an easily accessible form as there are no expenditure categories that just cover consultations or reviews.Due to this any response could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

What estimate she has made of the number of newly arrived illegal migrants that will be deported to France in 2025/26.

Returns to France under the UK-France returns agreement commenced on 18 September 2025.This is a pilot that we want to expand and therefore the numbers will vary. We will not go into the operational details as this would provide criminal smuggling gangs with information that they may use to continue to their vile trade.