As an employer in the UK you can apply for a work visa on behalf of a migrant without previously having to advertise the vacancy if the job is listed in the official Occupational Shortage list.

Below is the UK Skills Occupational Shortage List. It was last updated in April, 2007 making it the most up-to-date Occupational Shortage list.

The first occupational category is Engineering

Transportation and Highways Engineers
For this position Engineers are required to have a transport-related degree and at least 2 years relevant experience from a civil background in the following specialist areas:

• Traffic Engineer or Transport Planner
• Highways Design Engineer or Highways Planning Engineer

The second category is Ground Engineering
These occupations are related solely to the construction sector and not to oil/gas extraction; examples:

• Geoenvironmental Engineer
• Geotechnical Engineer
• Geological Advisor
• Geological Analyst
• Geological Associate
• Geological Engineer
• Geologist / Hydrogeologist
• Geology / Reservoir Engineer
• Geomechanics Engineer
• Geophysical Specialist
• Geophysicist
• Geoscientist
• Geosupport Engineer
• Engineering Geologist
• Ground Engineer
• Contaminated Land Engineer

Other Engineering:

• Chartered Quantity Surveyors
• CAA Licensed Aircraft Engineer
• Overhead Electricity Linesworker

The third Occupational Shortage goes to the Healthcare profession  

• Doctors
• Salaried GPs
• Dentists
• Consultants in Dental Specialities

Also there are a shortage of Consultant posts in the following specialist areas:

• Accident & Emergency
• Additional Dental Specialities
• Anaesthetics
• Cardiology
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Chemical Pathology
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Clinical Oncology
• Clinical Radiology
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology & Diabetes Mellitus
• Endodentics
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Gastroenterology
• General Adult Psychiatry
• General Internal Medicine
• General Surgery
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Haematology
• Histopathology
• Immunology
• Infectious Diseases
• Intensive Care Medicine
• Medical Microbiology & Virology
• Medical Oncology
• Neurology
• Neurosurgery
• Nuclear Medicine
• Obstetrics & Gynaecology
• Occupational Health
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Opthalmology
• Oral & Maxillo-facial Surgery
• Orthodontics
• Otolaryngology
• Paediatric Cardiology
• Paediatrics
• Palliative Medicine
• Plastic Surgery
• Psychotherapy
• Public Health Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Renal Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine
• Rheumatology
• Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery
• Urology

As well as specialist posts there are also General medical posts that need to be filled:

• Audiologist
• Audiological Scientist
• Clinical Psychologist
• Dietician
• Occupational Therapist
• Pharmacists
• Pharmacy Technician Higher Level (Band 5 and above)
• Pre-Registration Cytogeneticists
• Speech & Language Therapist
• Social Worker
• State Registered Scientists in Cytogenetics
• Biomedical Scientist / Medical Laboratory Scientific Officer (MLSO)
• Qualified HPC Registered Diagnostic & Therapeutic Radiographers, including Ultrasonographers

The Nurses Occupational Shortage areas are:

• Midwives
• Registered Nurse employed or engaged at Band 7 or Band 8 of Agenda for Change or their Independent sector equivalents

Registered Nurse employed or engaged in the following specialities:

• Audiology
• Sleep / Respiratory Physiology
• Neurophysiology
• Cardiac Physiology
• Operating Theatre Nurse
• Clinical Radiology
• Pathology
• Critical Care (nurses working in wards with a Level 2 or Level 3 classification)

Other shortage occupations include:

• Teachers – All posts in England and Scotland covering compulsory schooling
• Veterinary Surgeons