UK Government announces significant immigration changes
13 May 2025The UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has announced significant immigration changes that aim to reduce legal migration to the UK.
The much-anticipated Immigration White Paper has been published setting out the Labour Government’s proposals to reduce net migration in the UK, which has continued to grow. The aim is to manage immigration levels by reducing reliance on immigration systems and instead improving training and recruitment of local workers.
Below are the key changes in brief. We will be commenting further over the coming days on the practical implications for clients.
Key Changes
Settlement and British Citizenship – it will in future take 10 years to qualify for settlement (also known as indefinite leave to remain or “ILR”) for all points-based routes, rather than the current five years
- In most instances, it is a requirement to hold ILR for 12 months before applying for British citizenship, so this change will also affect timelines in applying for British Citizenship.
- There will be opportunities for individuals to reduce the qualifying period to settlement and citizenship based on their contributions to the UK economy and society. It is not yet clear what the Government has in mind here but it has been suggested that this will be a points based assessment.
- The Life in the UK test will also be reviewed and updated.
Workers – the required skills levels will be raised back to RQF level 6, and salary thresholds will rise, while the Immigration Skills Surcharge will increase by 32%
- Skills level for Skilled Worker visas will be raised from RQF-3 to RQF-6, which broadly means the skill level required for the job role will need to be at least undergraduate degree level. This approach would see the number of eligible occupations reduced by around 180 occupations.
- Salary thresholds are expected to rise and exact figures will be confirmed. The Immigration Salary List will also be abolished.
- The Immigration Skills Surcharge, which must be paid by employers, will be increased by 32% and the funding from this will be used to upskill the UK’s domestic workforce in priority sectors.
- Employers from certain sectors will need to produce workforce strategies to justify high levels of recruitment abroad.
- A new Temporary Shortage List will be introduced to cover roles (that are below RQF-6 level) in sectors experiencing shortages of labour.
Students – the length of the Graduate visa will be reduced from 24 months to 18 months
- The Government will explore introducing a levy on higher education providers’ income from international students to be reinvested into the higher education and skills system.
- There will be a new traffic light system introduced to rate a universities’ compliance in maintaining their sponsor licence, as well as a number of measures to strengthen the requirements which higher education providers must meet to recruit international students and maintain their sponsor licence.
Family Visas – before the end of the year, the Government vows to set out new family policies for those who are British, settled or refugees seeking to bring family members to the UK
We can expect there to be:
- a review of the financial requirement, which may see a change to the current minimum income requirement of £29,000;
- changes to the English language requirement;
- tightening of the suitability rules to consider “good character” requirements; and
- the introduction of a clear framework in relation to cases made on the basis of exceptional circumstances.
Talent and Expansion Visas – there are positive proposals for “very high talent routes” to attract talented individuals that will bring significant benefit to strategic industries and the UK economy
- Changes will be implemented to make it simpler for top scientific and design talent to use the Global Talent Visa as well as exploring expansions of the High Potential Individual Visas.
- The number of overseas workers that businesses can send to the UK to establish a UK presence under the Expansion Worker visa will be doubled from five workers to 10.
- The Innovator Founder visa will be reviewed to ensure it supports entrepreneurial talent currently studying at UK universities.
English Language – there will be new and enhanced English language requirements in various immigration categories for main applicants and dependants
- For those applying under the Skilled Worker visa route, the English language requirement will increase from level B1 to B2, which broadly means going from intermediate level (B1) to an upper intermediate level (B2).
- There are currently no requirements on English proficiency for adult dependants arriving on many of work and student routes. A new English language requirement will be introduced for all adult dependants of workers and students at level A1, which is beginners level.
- Individuals are expected to improve their English language skills as they continue to stay in the UK so those applying for any visa extension will need to demonstrate progression to level A2 (elementary) and to level B2 (upper intermediate) for settlement.
- For those applying for settlement, the English language requirement will increase from level B1 (intermediate) to B2 (upper intermediate) for most routes.
When do these changes take place?
This is currently unclear. As mentioned above, the Immigration White Paper refers to introducing a new family visa policy before the end of this year, which may mean that some of the proposals above are introduced sooner.
Transitional arrangements
The Home Office would not generally apply changes to the Immigration Rules retrospectively, so individuals should be able to rely on the requirements as they stood when they entered the UK.
That said, given the Government’s aim of reducing net migration, we do see scope for some transitional arrangements to be introduced and we will be monitoring this carefully.
We will continue to share updates once the nuances of these changes are released in due course.
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