On 4 December 2023 the Home Secretary, James Cleverly, announced future changes to visa rules in what he described as a “five-point plan” to reduce immigration. The Home Office released more information on 21 December, including some adjustments to what had initially been announced.
The changes have now come into force, in accordance with two sets of revisions to the Immigration Rules released on 19 February and 14 March.
What are the five changes?
- Social care workers are no longer allowed to bring dependants (that is, partners and children) on their visa.
- The baseline minimum salary to be sponsored for a Skilled Worker visa has increased from £26,200 to £38,700, while the ‘going rate’ minimum salary specific to each job has also gone up significantly.
- A list of jobs for which it is possible to sponsor someone for a Skilled Worker visa at a reduced minimum salary has been made shorter and renamed the Immigration Salary List.
- The minimum income normally required to sponsor someone for a spouse/partner visa has risen from £18,600 to to £29,000.
- A review of the Graduate visa, a two-year unsponsored work permit for overseas graduates of British universities, to check for possible abuse of the system.
When did the changes happen?
- The ban on newly arriving care workers bringing immediate family took effect on 11 March 2024.
- The Skilled Worker minimum salary increases took effect on 4 April 2024.
- An interim Immigration Salary List, replacing the Shortage Occupation List, also took effect on 4 April 2024; the list will be re-examined later this year.
- The spouse/partner visa minimum income rose to £29,000 on 11 April 2024, with plans to increase it to around £34,500 at an unspecified point later in 2024 and finally to around £38,700 by early 2025.
- The Migration Advisory Committee published its review of the Graduate visa on 14 May 2024, finding no significant abuse and recommending that the route stay open.
Why did the Government decide to make these changes?
Ministers believe that immigration is far too high. Net migration (the number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants) was estimated to be 764,000 in 2022.
International students, social care workers and their immediate family members (dependants) were the main contributors to the recent increase in net migration, along with humanitarian visa schemes and people claiming asylum.
The changes announced in December follow restrictions on student dependant rules announced separately in May 2023 and in force since the start of 2024. The Home Office says that 300,000 of the people who moved to the UK last year would not have been able to come had all these changes been in place then.
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Disclaimer: This blog post provides general information and should not be considered legal advice. Always consult with immigration professionals or legal experts for personalized guidance regarding visa sponsorship.
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