Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications were (a) received and (b) granted for people seeking an (i) International Sportsperson visa and (ii) Creative Worker (Temporary Work) visa so they could participate in wrestling performances in each year since 2010.

The Home Office publishes data on visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on international sportspersons and temporary worker visas are published in tables ‘Vis_D01’ for applications and ‘Vis_D02’ for outcomes of the Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes detailed datasets, as part of the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.

Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to year ending June 2023. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Wrestling in the UK is governed by the British Wrestling Association and holders of International Sports Persons visas may enter the UK to coach and compete in competitions.

Those performers appearing in the UK in professional exhibitions may apply under the Creative Worker (Temporary Worker) visa route.

However, the published data does not record the applicant’s sport.