The Treasury has revealed 718 work visas have been issued since April this year.

In a written Tynwald question, Onchan MHK Julie Edge asked Treasury Minister Dr Alex Allinson how many work visas have been issued since April 15 broken down by category, nationality, salary, public or private sector and role?

The vast majority received worker migrant visas (428) with 200 also receiving worker migrant health visas for those working in the NHS.

A total of 326 were for entry clearance with 313 applying for further leave to remain. There were 79 who applied for indefinite leave to remain.

In terms of nationality The Philippines was top with 168 applicants followed by South Africa with 118. India was next with 78 applicants, Pakistan with 53 and China with 44.

Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Ghana also had more than 20 applicants. Applicants from other countries include Barbados, Belgium, Sant Kitts and Nevis, Nepal, Brazil and Georgia.

The vast majority of work visas for jobs earning between £20-£25k and £25-£30k.

There were four applications for those set to earn £150k plus. The vast majority of jobs were in the private sector with just 86 in the public sector.

The most popular type of job for which visas were being sought was as a care worker or home carer with 85 applications. A total of 65 were applying for chef jobs and 63 as nurses.

There were also 41 for accountants, 33 for programmers and software developers and 24 as medical practitioners.

Only one application was to work as a midwife while two applied for jobs as butchers and one as a baker.

A similar question was asked earlier in the year giving figures since October 2021. While the Philippines remained the most popular nationality, China was second with South Africa third.

The figures come amid concerns migrants have been duped into coming to the Isle of Man with the promise of jobs which turn out to be fake and they are then exploited into doing low-paid work and live in sub-standard accommodation – effectively modern slavery.

In October, the Manx Government said the immigration service has been ‘undertaking a considerable amount of work to modernise and improve processes’ with a ‘much greater rigour in the processing of immigration applications.’