As the recent festive break fast becomes a distant memory, we focus on some of the expected new UK immigration rules and discuss how they will affect businesses and individuals over the next few months.


Immigration Health Surcharge

Migrants coming to the UK for six months or more, and those already in the UK extending their visas, are required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) as part of their visa application, so they can then access the National Health Service. The IHS is paid as an upfront payment and charged according to the length of an individual’s visa.

Currently, the surcharge is £624 per year for adults and £477 per year for children. However, proposed new UK immigration rules will see these costs rise by 66%. This will see the annual cost for adults increase to £1,035 and children to £776.

While these new UK immigration rules were proposed in the summer of 2023, the changes won’t come into force before the 31st of January 2024, as the legislation is set for further debate in the House of Commons.

Skilled Worker and Family visa minimum salary threshold

Another of the new UK immigrations proposed changes concerns the Skilled Worker and Family visa minimum salary threshold.

On 4 December 2023, the Home Secretary, James Cleverly, announced that in Spring 2024 the minimum general salary threshold under the Skilled Worker route will increase from £26,200 to £38,700 and for family visas (such as the spouse visa) the increase will be from £18,600 to £38,700.

For the Skilled Worker visa, this represents a salary increase of 48% and for family visas, an increase of 108%. The announcement of these proposed changes created a lot of uncertainty for businesses and families in terms of whether the changes would only apply to first-time visa applicants, or whether they would also apply to those already in the UK on existing visas.

On 20 December 2023, the Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery), Tim Pusglove, confirmed in writing that the proposed changes will not apply to existing Skilled Worker and family visa holders. This means that the increased salary levels will only apply to first time visa applicants for the respective visa routes, when the Spring 2024 changes come into effect. The exact date is yet to be confirmed but the Home Office usually gives 21 days’ notice, and it is expected that the new changes to the UK immigration rules will apply from April 2024.

Following this, the Home Office updated their published fact sheet confirming that these new UK immigration rule changes for family visas will be introduced in stages. As such, the initial increase in Spring 2024 will be to £29,000. This means an initial proposed salary increase of 56% which is quite substantial but more achievable than the proposed jump to £38,700. The Home Office intend to introduce further increases to around £34,500 and finally to around £38,700 at future dates, so families will need to eventually plan for these changes.

Home Office fact sheet

The above fact sheet also provides solace to businesses and the NHS reliant on healthcare workers applying for the Health and Social Care visa, as well as education workers on national pay-scale occupations as they will be exempt from the impact that the new UK immigration rules will have on minimum salary thresholds.

However, roles in industries that are not exempt from these new UK immigration rules could see competition to fill vacancies ramp up in what is an already strained domestic UK labour market.

In addition, the proposed changes affecting care workers are due to take effect “as soon as possible”. This means that initial visa applicants will no longer be able to bring their dependants.

Action points

Given the proposed changes to the UK immigration rules by the Home Office, businesses can breathe a sigh of relief that they do not need to immediately increase the salary levels for their current migrant cohort who hold a Skilled Worker visa. However, if they intend to offer sponsorship to migrants who do not already hold a Skilled Worker visa, they should act fast to ensure they can benefit at the current salary level of £26,200 under the proposed transitional provisions.

Equally, individuals who are due to apply for their initial visas, or are due to extend their visas in the near future may also wish to consider doing so sooner rather than later to beat the expected 31 January 2024 IHS “deadline”. Where businesses are covering the visa application costs including the IHS, they may also wish to consider putting in place agreements in the event that employees exit the business within a specified timeframe.

Our experienced team of immigration lawyers are on hand to advise and help you navigate the complex UK immigration system for you. We’d be happy to have a discussion with any individuals or organisations looking at immigration options, especially those who need to act urgently before the new UK immigration rules come into effect.

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