James Cleverly, the United Kingdom’s (UK) Conservative Home Secretary, unveiled a “five-point plan” on December 4, 2023, to reduce immigration, introducing significant changes to visa rules. These changes affect social care workers, skilled worker visas, the immigration salary list, spouse/partner visas, and graduate visas.
The rationale behind these visa changes stems from Conservative ministers’ concerns that immigration levels were too high, with net migration reaching an estimated 866,000 in 2023. International students, social care workers, and their dependants were significant contributors to this increase, alongside humanitarian visa schemes and asylum seekers.
The changes were implemented through statements of changes to the immigration rules, laid before Parliament on February 19, 2024, for care worker dependants, and March 14, 2024, for family and work visa income thresholds.
Non-binding debates were held in April and November 2024, with another scheduled for January 20, 2025.
The Labour government, which took office in July 2024, supports most of the new rules but is reviewing the policy on the minimum income required to sponsor a spouse or partner visa.
The Home Office admitted that 300,000 of the people who moved to the UK in 2023 would not have been able to come if these changes had been in place.
Key changes in details
Here are the key visa changes in details, with their timelines and specific information:
Social Care workers: Social care workers are no longer permitted to bring dependants (partners and children) on their visas.
The ban on newly arriving care workers bringing immediate family took effect on March 11, 2024.
Skilled worker visa: The baseline minimum salary for a Skilled Worker visa increased from £26,200 to £38,700, with the ‘going rate’ minimum salary for each job also rising significantly. However, the new £38,700 salary threshold does not apply to those who already hold a visa and apply for extensions or settlement before April 4, 2030.
The minimum salary increase took effect on April 4, 2024. It is important to note that NHS staff and education workers have different salary requirements based on national pay scales, while social care workers can be paid £23,200.
First-time applicants after April 4, 2024, may still qualify under certain conditions, such as being under 26 years of age, or on a Graduate visa.
Immigration salary list: The list of jobs eligible for a skilled worker visa at a reduced minimum salary was shortened and renamed the immigration salary list, replacing the shortage occupation list, and took effect on April 4, 2024.
The minimum income required for British citizens to sponsor a spouse or partner visa increased from £18,600 to £29,000 on April 11, 2024. Although the Labour government has commissioned a review, expected in June 2025, it will not raise the threshold further to £38,700 as initially planned by the Conservative government.
Importantly, the £29,000 income threshold applies only to first-time applicants.
A government spokesperson initially stated that the higher threshold would apply to visa extensions.
However, the Home Office later clarified that it would not. The notes accompanying the immigration rules, published on March 14, explains: “There are transitional arrangements for those who, before 11 April, already have a Family visa within the fiancee or proposed civil partner or five-year partner route, or who applied before April 11, and are being granted.
Once a minimum income requirement (MIR) has been met, the same MIR must be met through to settlement on the route, provided the applicant is applying to stay with the same partner.”
This means that individuals whose fiancee partner, or spouse applied for a visa before April 11, 2024, will only need to demonstrate a minimum income of £18,600 per year.
This transitional exemption will apply to their initial visa application, as well as any future visa extension applications and applications for settlement (also known as indefinite leave to remain).
For armed forces members sponsoring a spouse or partner, the minimum income increased to £23,496.
Those who applied before April 11, 2024, will continue to meet the previous £18,600 threshold for extensions and settlement.
For initial visa applications from outside the UK, only the sponsor’s income counts towards the threshold. However, for extensions and permanent residence, both the applicant’s and the sponsor’s incomes are considered.
Graduate visa review: An independent committee reviewed the graduate visa, a two-year unsponsored work permit for overseas graduates of British universities, to check for potential abuse.
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) published its review on May 14, 2024, finding no significant abuse and recommending that the route remain open.
