March 2024 UK Immigration Statement of Changes: What Employers Need to Know – Littler Mendelson PC

Introducing the latest English Immigration Rules Statement of Changes, Legal Immigration Minister Tom Pursglove announced that they will “deliver the biggest ever cut to migration over the course of this time”.

Employers will be negatively impacted by the Statement of Changes HC590 starting on April 4, 2024, as well as American citizens and permanent residents moving their spouses to the UK from April 11 may have significant consequences as a result.

This is a list of the changes that apply to UK-based organizations with non-resident team.

Minimum pay to partner new Skilled Workers

Since the UK left the European Union and lost its right to travel to different European nations, the Skilled Worker card has been the primary method of immigration for American workers.

Businesses with a Experienced Worker Sponsor License may sponsor non-resident workers who meets the requirements for a Skilled Worker visa in legitimate jobs if they pay the higher volume of the common Skilled Worker visa level or the starting pay for the specific position as determined by the UK authorities.

For most innovative Skilled Worker visas the basic level will enhance from £26, 200 to £38, 700 on April 4. The minimum salary threshold will boost for those receiving discounts, increasing from £23, 580 to £34, 830 for Experienced Workers with appropriate PhDs, and from £20, 960 to £30, 960 for those with appropriate STEM PhDs, New Entrants, or those on the Shortage Occupation / Immigration Salary List.

On April 4, there will be an increase in the various going rates for specific occupations in addition to the standard monthly give threshold boost.

Until then, employers could sponsor a Qualified Worker if they were paid a salary related or above the bottom 25 % of pay for that occupation, according to the Office of National Statistics ‘ Annual Survey of Time and Income.

The new starting wage will be determined using the 50th percentile ( median ) of salaries for that profession starting on April 4.

Scarcity Employment

On April 4, the Shortage Occupation List ( SOL ) is being scrapped, along with its 20 % discount on the going rate for employers facing skills shortages in occupations on the list. An” Immigration Salaries List” ( ISL), which replaces the SOL, will contain a significantly reduced list of jobs. A lower public salary cap, currently set at £30 and 960, will continue to benefit the ISL.

For example, there is a recent shortage of programmers and software engineers in the UK. They were only able to be hired on Skilled Worker visas until recently if paid £27,200 ( based on a 37.5 % week ). They would be paid a minimum of the new going rate of £49, 400 ( higher than the general skilled worker threshold of £38, 700 ) starting on April 4. The new ISL only includes a dozen lack roles with middle give under that sum, such as different construction trades, lab technicians, medical technicians.

Renewing the visas for current Skilled Workers

When it comes to changing their sponsoring employer, applying for settlement, or extending their visa, those who are already on the Skilled Worker route are exempt from these salary increases.

Their going rate of pay should progress at the same rate as resident workers – on updated 25th percentiles using the latest pay data when they next make an application after April 4. Before April 4, Skilled Workers who are already on the immigration path will have to make a minimum general salary of$ 29, 000 when they will renew, switch sponsors, or apply for settlement. The threshold will be$ 26 100 for those with relevant PhDs,$ 23 200 for those with relevant STEM PhDs, and$ 23 200 for those with relevant SOL/ISL positions, for new hires, or for those with a national pay scale.

Skilled Workers currently sponsored in a role that is on either the SOL or ISL list but no longer on the list when they make their next application, may still be sponsored on the lower general threshold, but only if they extend their visa to continue working in the same role for the same sponsor. Otherwise, their pay must be in line with the updated 25th percentile starting pay, similar to what was done before April 4 for those who were already covered as Skilled Workers.

Skilled Workers under some SOC codes who are eligible for sponsorship under the current rules may no longer be eligible after April 4, 2024 because they are now regarded as having levels of skill below RQF Level 3 ( see below occupation code changes ). Occupations that no longer qualify include nannies, fashion stylists and car salesmen. People who have continued to work as skilled workers under the new regulations will only be able to apply for a visa extension for that position if they continue to work for the same employer. It will no longer be possible to work for a new employer.

New occupation codes

On April 4, the SOC 2010 definitions were updated to the newer SOC 2020 codes, which were used to classify occupations. With different numbering, some categories changing, and some occupations no longer qualifying for Skilled Worker sponsorship, the Office of National Statistic’s 2020 set of definitions are being changed to SOC codes for jobs.

Employers intending to apply for Skilled Worker visas before these changes take effect should note that they must assign a Certificate of Sponsorship ( CoS ) before April 4, 2024.

Requests are taking longer than usual, and UK Visas and Immigration has announced that the online sponsorship management system will no longer function between 7 p.m. on April 2 and 9 a.m. on April 4 in order to update the updated 2020 SOC codes for all occupations.

This further reduces the timeframe to assign a CoS before April 4 in addition to Easter Bank Holidays. DCoS allocations granted before April 4, 2024, but not assigned by this date will be cancelled and a new request must be submitted via the sponsorship management system ( in accordance with the rules after April 4). UCS allocations made before April 4 will continue to be valid, but those made after that date will be subject to the new regulations.

sponsoring employees with national pay scales or health and care visas

Employees on national pay scales such as teachers or medical practitioners may be sponsored on a minimum salary threshold of £23, 200 up from £20, 960 on April 4 and should be paid at least according to the national pay scale for that role.

New health and care workers who are not paid in a hierarchy of pay ( such as health care practice managers ) have a general threshold increase of £29, 000 from £26, 200, and their starting pay will go up to the 25th percentile, not the median as is required for the majority of other Skilled Worker visas.

On April 4, the discounted general threshold for health and care workers with relevant PhDs increased from £23, 800 to £26, 100. For those with a relevant STEM PhD, on the SOL/ISL, or New Entrants, the general threshold increase is from £20, 960 to £23, 200.

Fewer occupations are permitted for asylum seekers

The only occupations on the Shortage Occupation List are the ones that asylum seekers are currently permitted to hold and only if they have been waiting for a decision for more than 12 months without fault of their own.

The government has ignored the Migration Advisory Committee’s repeated recommendation that asylum seekers that are permitted to work are allowed to contribute in any occupations, or at the very least all skilled occupations. Tens of thousands of asylum seekers and their dependents are stuck in limbo, so the Statement of Changes instead further restricts permitted employment to the very few short-change positions that make it onto the new ISL.

Scale-up sponsors

The Scale- up visa salary threshold is not increasing by as much as that of Skilled Workers on April 4, with a smaller change from £34, 600 to £36, 300. The 25th percentile is still used as the starting point for this route.

A scale-up sponsor license becomes a very appealing alternative to the Skilled Worker sponsor license for organizations that meet the requirements for scale-ups when combined with the lower sponsor license fee, Certificate of Sponsorship ( CoS ) fee, and lack of immigration skills charges. &nbsp,

The pay requirements for workers on Scale-up visas to extend or settle are based on earnings made in the two or three years that have already passed. To extend or settle, those who applied for a Scale-up visa on or before April 11, 2023, must only show qualifying PAYE earnings of £33, 000, while those who applied between April 12, 2023 and April 4, 2024 must also show qualifying PAYE earnings of £34, 600.

Global Business Mobility immigration routes

The Graduate Trainee route threshold has been increased from £24, 220 to £25, 410 while the threshold for Global Business Mobility visas has been increased for the majority to £25. Global Business Mobility routes will continue to be offered at the 25th percentile of the available positions, with those with Graduate Trainee visas still receiving a 30 % discount on the starting rate.

Global Business Mobility Senior or Specialist Workers must be employed by overseas entities. Although the £48,500 threshold for new Skilled Workers is higher than the £38,700 threshold for new Skilled Workers, having a median-based going rate may make the Senior or Specialist Worker route a more appealing choice than overseas companies moving staff to the UK. Employers may have previously found the Skilled Worker route to be simpler.

It may also be easier for overseas sponsors to meet Senior or Specialist Worker salary levels as they can include some allowances that are prohibited under the Skilled Worker route.

After April 4, some SOC codes that are currently eligible for sponsorship under the Global Business Mobility rules are deemed to be below RQF Level 6, making interior designers and care home managers, for example, no longer qualified to be sponsored along these lines. Any Global Business Mobility employees who are not currently enrolled in RQF Level 6 may apply to extend their position without being granted a permanent extension. Otherwise, they may apply to be sponsored in these jobs on the Skilled Worker route.

Minimum income for partner visa applications

Applications made on or after April 11, 2024 increase from £18,600 to £29, 000 for British and resident workers who want to sponsor a partner on a family visa. There will be no additional income requirement for children.

Rental income, self-employment, or savings can be used to demonstrate that a person can support their loved one if they do not meet the income threshold. However, the price can be prohibitive. For every two and a half years of the partner visa, a British worker earning £22, 000 rather than the required £29, 000, for example, would have to show savings equivalent to the £7, 000 shortfall multiplied by two and a half plus a sum of £16, 000– so £33, 500. If the couple are returning to the UK and the British partner has n’t been offered a job or has received a 12-month salary, this will increase to £88,500.

Those who already have a family visa, have been granted a fiancé visa prior to the threshold increase, or have applied for one before the spring’s impending income threshold increase will continue to be assessed against the current £18,600 requirement.

The Home Secretary initially announced that the threshold for new applications would be raised to match the new median wage threshold for Skilled Worker visas of £38, 700. This is scheduled to be implemented in stages following an outcry. The minimum income requirement will increase to £29, 000 starting on April 11, 2024, then again in the fall to £34, 500, and by spring 2025, it is anticipated to increase to £38, 700.