Everything we do is grounded in evidence from people with lived experience. This page brings together research we have produced and contributed to — documenting the reality of exploitation within the UK immigration system, the cost of coming to the UK, and the structural failures that allow it to continue.
Policy & research
Read our joint response to Home Affairs Committee enquiry on Work-based Immigration (Oct, 2026)
The Real Cost of Coming to the UK Migrants At Work Ltd | 2025
This preliminary findings brief outlines the true financial cost of the Skilled Worker visa through interviews with 8 migrant workers in the health and care sector. Workers paid between £2,700 and over £30,000 to come to the UK, most of it through illegal fees charged for Certificates of Sponsorship. Debt, wage deductions, homelessness and family separation were common consequences.
Homegrown Slavery: Ending State-Sponsored Trafficking Migrants At Work & Modern Slavery PEC, hosted by the University of Liverpool | November 2023 Author: Aké Achi
This report — funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council — investigates how the UK's points-based immigration system facilitates what the author terms "Trafficking in Persons in Work." Led by people with lived experience, it argues that the employer-sponsored visa functions as a licence for exploitation, and sets out a human rights-based framework for reform.
Research we have contributed to
The Impact of Covid-19 on People of Colour & Migrant Frontline Workers Migrants' Rights Network, Kanlungan Filipino Consortium, the3million & Migrants At Work | December 2020
Migrants At Work contributed to this joint survey of frontline workers across health and social care, construction, security, and delivery. Key findings included that 76% of respondents felt they were putting their health at risk by working through the pandemic, 38% feared losing their job if they stayed home, and 27% experienced racist abuse at work. The report made recommendations to government and employers on pay, sick leave, and workplace safety.