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.
Our research
The Real Cost of Coming to the UK Migrants At Work Ltd | 2025
This preliminary findings brief documents 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.