UK VISA AND IMMIGRATION STATEMENT OF CHANGES

Whilst we await the governments’ White Paper, UKVI has published their statement of changes on 12 March 2025.

Changes to the skilled worker route will affect care and senior care workers in England.

Unfortunately, many have travelled to the UK for a role within the care industry, however, due to unforeseen circumstances, roles are no longer available.

UKVI now place the burden on employers to utilise the pool of candidates currently at a loss within the UK before searching for fresh overseas talent. Employers will need to provide evidence that they have attempted to source talent via the relevant regional or sub regional partnerships they hold with a particular Trust. The question is how will UKVI monitor this? Will there be a central body governing this?

In other news, the minimum salary bottom line threshold will be increased from £23,200 (£11.90 per hour) to £25,000 per annum (£12.82 per hour) to ensure salary requirements continue to reflect the latest pay situation for UK workers. However, the going rates for all individual occupations in healthcare and education will be updated and drawn from national pay scales.

Lastly, further to UKVI’s crackdown in December 2024 on the sponsorship costs an employer is permitted to pass on to the employee, the statement of changes confirms that changes will be made to the rules where automatic deductions are taken from an applicant’s salary, in order to mitigate any loopholes against sponsorship costs being passed onto an applicant or the employee attempting to pay their own salary through business investment.

These above-mentioned changes are due to be effective on 9 April 2025.

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This update is for general guidance only and advice should be taken in relation to a particular set of circumstances.