The UK is taking serious measures to change its immigration and work visa rules for the upcoming year. Since the country has seen a boom in net migration, the Government wants to reduce the numbers in the future for the Skilled Worker and Student visa categories. The major changes announced so far as are as follows:
- A Ban and restriction on care workers bringing family dependants to the UK;
- No salary discount for shortage occupation list;
- Healthcare surcharge to rise;
- Students: a review of graduate visa;
- Minimum salary for UK skilled worker visa to increase (£38,700 per year);
- The minimum income requirement for a family visa is to rise (from £18,600 to £29,000 a year.)
Home Secretary James Cleverly said the changes, which will take effect next spring (from April 2024), would deliver the biggest-ever cut in net migration.
UK Care Worker / Health Worker Visa New Rules 2024
The changes related to social care (CQC registration and removal of the right to bring dependants) will come into force on 11 March. Care workers from around the world have contributed the most numbers to the Skilled worker visa category in 2023. Till September, 101,000 care workers were granted visas with 120,000 of their dependents. These workers, now according to the new rules will not be able to bring their dependents to the UK from Spring 2024.
Health Care surcharge
The NHS has also increased the immigration health care surcharge from £624 to £1,035 per annum. Exemption to the care workers will remain as before. There will also be discounts available for the under 18 and Students.
The new Salary threshold for the Skilled Worker Visa
Measures relating to Skilled Worker salary thresholds will come into force on 4 April. Till now the applicants of the Skilled worker visa have to show that they have a job offer that is whichever is highest out of £26,200 per year, £10.75 per hour, or the “going rate” for your job. From next spring, this will rise to £38,700 per year. The exemption will still be available for care workers and people on a national pay scale such as teachers as before.
Currently, applicants falling in the shortage occupation list could be paid 80% or the ongoing rate of the minimum salary threshold but now the government wants to scrap it as well. So this 20% discount will be lifted upfront.
New increased salary for family visa
The UKBA issued 70,000 family visas till June 2023 this year. The government now wants to increase the minimum annual salary threshold for the family visa. Changes to the family visas will be introduced on 11 April. Anyone wishing to bring their family (wife or children) as a British national will now have to show that they earn a minimum of £29,000. It will then be raised to £34,500 and finally £38,700 by early 2025.
Graduate visa rules
The UKBA issued more than 98,000 graduate visas were granted in the year to June. The graduate visa allows the students to remain in the UK for up to 2 more years after completing their graduation.
According to the new rules, the UK will now restrict bringing family members until they are on a Postgraduate research course from January 2024. A ban will also be placed on switching to a work visa from a student visa without completing the studies.
The impacts of new changes
The new changes will immensely impact the net migration in the UK. According to immigration expert Umer Rasib from visa-guru.com, the new changes will highly impact low-salary network workers such as chefs and butchers who normally earn less than 30,000 Pounds a year. They might be facing too much difficulty in getting a “job” offering them more than 38,000 GBP annually.
On the other hand, for the carers, it might not affect it a lot even if they have been denied in future bringing family members to the UK. They still will be able to apply according to the current salary threshold. However, most of these did not have enough carer experience and only used the loopholes in the visa requirements of the UKBA.
This will indeed help reduce the fake immigrants who were only paying to get this visa and settle in the UK as the dependents of the carers, added Rasib.
He further added the UK might also be able to control family members’ quota a bit more yearly by imposing a new salary threshold for British Citizenship holders sponsoring their families from abroad. But this may also breach the international rules for family reunification as the highly set salary threshold might not be met by young people living outside London or from lower-paid salary network jobs.