Nigerians are among foreign nationals working as prison officers in the United Kingdom who have been granted a temporary exemption from newly introduced visa rules, as several prisons grapple with acute staffing shortages.

According to a BBC report, UK prisons have increasingly relied on overseas recruits, particularly from Nigeria and Ghana, to fill staffing gaps.

However, organisations representing prison officers had warned that many jails risked losing thousands of staff following the government’s decision to raise the minimum salary requirement for skilled worker visas.

The Ministry of Justice said the exemption would “ensure jails can continue to run safely with the right level of experienced staff”.

Under changes introduced in July as part of measures to reduce migration, applicants are now required to earn at least £41,700 to qualify for a skilled worker visa, up from the previous threshold of £38,700.

The starting salary for prison officers generally falls below the new requirement, especially in areas outside London.

The Prison Officers Association said the revised salary threshold meant prisons stood to lose more than 2,500 overseas recruits, warning that the situation would have had “a catastrophic effect on prison stability”.

Earlier this year, Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, warned that many prisons were heavily dependent on officers recruited from West Africa.

He said many of these officers were at risk of having their visas refused for renewal, a situation he described as having a “devastating effect” on the prison system.

The temporary exemption applies only to applicants already resident in the United Kingdom and will run until the end of 2026, with a reduced salary threshold of £33,400 in effect until 31 December 2027.

The Prison Officers Association welcomed the exemption, describing it as a triumph for “common sense”.

The union’s General Secretary, Steve Gillan, said: “It might not be perfect, but it will mean the prison service hopefully can remain stable.”

The association’s National Chairman, Mark Fairhurst, added: “Our members can now go about their daily lives without the threat of removal from the country.”

The Times newspaper reported that the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, initially resisted the exemption, arguing that recruitment efforts should focus on British workers.

Earlier in the week, Justice Secretary David Lammy told Members of Parliament that he was holding discussions with Mahmood on the matter.

Addressing concerns over pressure on the prison system, Lammy said he wanted to recruit more prison officers locally but stressed that “the most important thing” was meeting the demand for prison places.

A Home Office source said prisons were being treated differently because of their importance to public safety and national security.

The source denied claims that Mahmood opposed the exemption but said she wanted it to be temporary, with the long-term goal of employing more British workers.

A Ministry of Justice source said prisons were under severe strain and that the exemption would provide “breathing space” to develop a programme to recruit more UK-based officers.

A government spokesperson said: “Net migration has already fallen by more than two-thirds under this government. We are clear numbers must fall further as we create a migration system that is controlled and fair.

“However, public safety is the first duty of any government and we must ensure jails can continue to run safely with the right level of experienced staff. This is vital given the prison capacity crisis we inherited.”

Prisons have been permitted to sponsor visa applications for overseas recruits since 2023 due to a shortage of British applicants.

In April, the government disclosed that more than 700 Nigerians were recruited to work in UK prisons last year, with Nigerians accounting for 29 per cent of job applicants and 12 per cent of staff hired in prisons across England and Wales.

This made Nigerians the second most common nationality after Britons to apply for or be offered prison jobs in 2024.

They were followed by applicants from Ghana, who received about 140 job offers.

The Prison Governors Association said a surge in applications from West Africa appeared to have been driven by word of mouth and job opportunities promoted online by the expatriate Nigerian community.