Business Immigration Update for Employers: Changes to Worker Routes
On 4 December 2023 the Home Secretary, James Cleverly, announced a new ‘five-point plan’ which aims to reduce legal migration to the UK.
We have all heard of the ‘stop the boats’ campaign which focuses on illegal immigration, but sights have now turned to reducing the pool of eligibility for work visas by up to 300,000 people per year. Naturally, this could have implications on businesses wishing to bring migrant employees to the UK to work.
Pam Sidhu, Partner and Head of Business Immigration, comments:
“The government is constantly reviewing immigration law and policy from different and competing angles. It faces ongoing pressures on the one hand to meet business demand for shortage of talent in the UK, as well as political desire to reduce overall net migration. The headline change announced this month is the increase to the minimum general salary threshold for sponsoring skilled workers to the UK. This will increase to £38,700 per annum. Coupled with recent increases to immigration fees, the government has again raised the price tag to bring foreign workers to the UK.
“Given skills shortages throughout the UK across many sectors, and the continuing need to recruit the brightest and the best, it is unlikely to deter most businesses from continuing to sponsor migrants. However, certain sectors such as hospitality where salaries are not as high, will be impacted. In such cases, other immigration routes may apply and that do not require a minimum salary threshold.”
What are the new changes?
- Changes to Health and Social Care Visas:
Point one of the plan is that migrant employees on Health and Social Care Visas can no longer bring dependants with them to the UK. Previously, employees were able to bring dependants with them.
Additionally, care providers in England will only be able to sponsor migrant employees if they are undertaking activities regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQS).
As part of these measures the annual immigration surcharge has been increased by 66%, from £624 to £1,035.
- Increases to the Skilled Worker Earning Threshold:
The Skilled Worker Earning Threshold (Threshold), previously £26,200 will increase by a third to £38,700. This means that businesses sponsoring skilled workers from overseas must generally offer a salary of £38,700 (gross) or over. However, there may be certain exceptions which apply to reduce this salary threshold, for example if the individual is a “new entrant“ (we are yet to see this detail).
The Home Secretary stated that the change has been introduced to bring the general Threshold in line with the UK median full time salary for skilled jobs.
- Changes to Shortage Occupations:
The 20% salary discount that currently applies for shortage occupations that are published on a Shortage Occupation List (SOL), as decided by Migration Advisory Committee from time to time, will be abolished. The SOL is to be reformed in light of the new higher Threshold. The SOL is to be replaced with the Immigration Salary List, which will remove the 20% discount to salary although it is understood that a general threshold discount will be retained.
Employers should anticipate a reduction in the number of occupations on the list, potentially impacting recruitment strategies for specific industries such as technology, engineering and construction.
- Changes to Family Visas:
The minimum earnings requirement to obtain a spouse Visa has been increased from £18,600 to £38,700 in line with the increase to the Threshold. This will create a financial barrier for many British citizens or those settled in the UK, seeking to sponsor a spouse, partner or finance.
However there has been no announcement regarding introduction of limitations on dependents for Skilled Workers or Global Business Mobility migrants, which is helpful.
- The Graduate Visa Route:
The Graduate Visa Route currently allows international students who have graduated from a UK University to work in the UK in the two years post-completion of their studies. No new changes have been announced but there is intended to be a further review by the Migration Advisory Committee. This may therefore be subject to further reforms in the future.
When do these changes come into effect?
No firm date has yet been provided, but we can expect the new measures to apply from Spring 2024.
If you have any questions, please contact Pam Sidhu, Partner and Head of Business Immigration, at [email protected]. Wilkes have a dedicated business immigration team that can assist you with sponsorship and other business immigration enquiries.