Changes to the Immigration Rules

UKVI issued a Statement of Changes on 12 March. We remind you of the main changes taking effect now and later in the year.

Skilled Worker – changes take effect on 9 April 2025

Health and Care – Care workers and related jobs in England (does not impact Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland)

Sponsors must try to recruit from the pool of workers already in the UK who are seeking new employment before offering sponsorship to recruits from other immigration routes or from overseas.

Salary requirements

The minimum salary threshold is being raised to £25,000 per annum/ £12.82 per hour.

Going rates for individual occupations in healthcare and education are also being updated, where they are drawn from national pay scales.

Transitional arrangements for salary on the Skilled Worker route

A change is being introduced to have a significant impact on the tradeable points available to Skilled Workers relying on Tables 2a and 2b of the Skilled Worker guidance when calculating the minimum salary for sponsorship.

Previously, the going rates were based on 40-hour working weeks. This is being reduced to the less generous 37.5-hour working week, which will effectively require a higher pro-rated salary.

Deductions from salary – Skilled Worker

To align with long-standing best practice, UKVI have confirmed that all money paid by the applicant to the sponsor (or a related organisation) towards the repayment of loans, other salary deductions or investments will be subtracted from the full salary indicated on the Certificate of Sponsorship.

An exception to this rule will be available where such payments are not aimed at recovery of business costs, immigration costs or investment, but rather an additional benefit which the applicant has a genuine choice whether to take up.

This may be particularly relevant to sponsors who enter into visa costs repayments arrangements with sponsored employees and should be considered in the context of contractual ‘claw back’ clauses.

Introduction of a Visit Visa requirement on Trinidad and Tobago – 12 March 2025

A recent study indicated that an increased number of Trinidadian nationals have entered the UK for reasons not permitted under a visit visa, including seeking asylum.

The introduction of the visa requirement includes a transition period for nationals of Trinidad and Tobago to travel to the UK without a visa where they hold a confirmed travel booking made prior to the introduction. This period will commence at the same time as the visa requirement is introduced and run until six weeks after the introduction date: 15:00 BST on 23 April 2025. During this period, nationals of Trinidad and Tobago who hold a confirmed travel booking at the time of the introduction, for travel to the UK within the six-week transition period, will not be required to obtain a visit visa before travel. They will, however, be required to hold a valid ETA. Applications for an ETA for nationals of Trinidad and Tobago closed at 15:00 GMT on 12 March 2025. Trinidad and Tobago nationals must obtain a visa in advance of travel.

Global Talent – changes take effect on 4 August 2025

Efforts have been made to align the various Arts and Culture, Architecture, Fashion and Design and Film and Television endorsing bodies’ processes on the Global Talent route, with clarifications in respect of requirements and mandatory documents for consistency across all endorsing bodies.

It is envisaged that the process for Digital Technology endorsement will also be aligned with the standard approach and the Tech Nation application form being replaced.

Child students – changes take effect on 29 May 2025

Nominated guardians were previously not accounted for in the Immigration Rules but will now be added and be required to provide a letter of undertaking. This is similar to the current requirement for close relatives and private foster carers.

Additionally, an application for a Child Student visa may now be refused where a carer in the UK has committed a relevant criminal offence and where there are safeguarding concerns for the applicant once they are in the UK.

A new ‘living arrangement requirement’ has been added to supplement the financial requirements already in place, to align the guidance with safeguarding considerations.

Changes to Appendix Administrative – changes come into effect on 9 April 2025

Error correction

Many had relied on Administrative Review as a mechanism to address visa error correction. The free out-of-country error correction team is going to be expanded to cover cases in-country where there has been an error in the conditions or time period in a grant of permission.

UK residence during Administrative Review

Applicants who have an application for permission to stay in the UK must remain in the UK to apply for an administrative review against the refusal of their decision to ensure that permission to stay still applies on successful review.

Temporary Work – notable changes taking effect on 9 April 2025

The Immigration Rules will now specify that Creative Workers must not be seeking entry to fill permanent position.

Family-based applications – changes taking effect on 9 April 2025

Minor changes to ensure consistency across the UK, to include the updates in respect of documentary evidence to prove that a relationship has formally ended. Additionally, the Scottish disability benefits/allowances are being added to the benefits list in Appendix FM, Appendix FM-SE and Appendix HM AF.

Additionally, Appendix Family Reunion is to be renamed to Family Reunion (Sponsors with Protection).

There have also been small but important changes made to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS):

• To confirm that a person who became an EU, other EEA or Swiss citizen after the end of the transition period cannot sponsor an EUSS family permit application.

• To enable an EUSS or EUSS family permit application to be refused on suitability grounds.

• To confirm that applications for settled status raising issues of adverse character and/or criminality prior to the transition period will be assessed based on the ‘serious grounds’ of public policy or public security test

• To permit the use of biometric residence card or permit issued to a non-EEA national applicant, and which expired no more than 18 months ago as proof of their identity and nationality and not require them to re-enrol their fingerprint biometrics.

• Exempting children aged 18 and under visiting the UK in organised French school groups from the requirement to obtain Electronic Travel Authorisation.

Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme – changes to take effect in August 2025

The Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme (UPE) launched on 4 February 2025 and provides a route for Ukrainians (and their eligible family members) who have already been living in the UK with Ukraine Scheme permission to make a further application to extend their temporary sanctuary in the UK whilst the conflict in Ukraine remains ongoing.

Additionally, alongside further clarification points, the eligibility requirements under the Immigration Rules have been amended in respect of applications on the Homes for Ukraine route from overseas, to mirror the requirement for an approved sponsor within ‘eligibility’, in line with the upcoming policy changes to be clarified later in 2025.

Parents with permission on the scheme may now sponsor their children in line. Step-parents are no longer recognised as parents.

An important update to note, is that applications on the UPE can only make an application 28 days or less prior to the expiry of their existing permission.

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