On 4 December 2023, the Home Secretary James Cleverly announced the Government’s sweeping plans to cut down immigration by 300,000 people a year in response to the publication of figures showing net migration at a record high. One of the ways in which the Government intends to restrict immigration is by increasing the financial requirement for family and work visa applicants. We will explore the anticipated changes to both of these categories:
Partner/Family Visa:
This will affect applicants applying for entry clearance as a spouse, partner and also children joining their parents in the UK, as well as those switching into this route from another category whilst in the UK.
Under Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules, family members of British citizens, those with indefinite leave to remain and with protection status in the UK can apply for their family members to join them in the UK with a view to settling as a family unit. One of the key requirements in making the application is ability to meet the financial requirement. At the entry clearance stage, this is met where the sponsor is able to demonstrate a gross annual income of at least £18,600 (this is increased by £3,800 where there is a dependent child and a further £2,400 for each additional child). There are numerous ways in which this requirement can be met including salaried and/or non-salaried employment, cash savings (£62,500 minimum), non-employment income (dividends, shares or property rental), pension and self-employment (sole trader or director). Some of these routes can be combined with one another where the sponsor is short of meeting the necessary requirement and can be complex.
The Government’s initial intentions were to increase the financial requirement by more than doubling it from £18,600 to £38,700. However, following the initial announcement has now confirmed this increase will be done incrementally to soften the impact on families. By spring 2024 we will see the visa minimum income requirement increase to £29,000 (which is still above the average UK salary). This will then increase to £34,500 by late 2024 and eventually to £38,700 by early 2025.
As we await the details of the transitional arrangements to be announced over the coming months, we urge families to consider making their applications at the earliest opportunity and prior to this spring where possible, to avoid being caught by the new changes.
Work Visa:
Qualifying individuals may be granted a Skilled Worker visa (formerly known as the Tier 2 (General) visa) to enable them to come to the UK to work for a sponsor in an eligible role. A Skilled Worker Visa is initially granted for a period of up to five years and leads to settlement subject to the individual meeting various requirements of the Immigration Rules. At present, the minimum earnings threshold is £26,200. The Government has stated that this is set to increase to £38,700 by spring 2024 in an attempt bring about the “biggest ever reduction in net migration…” The individual occupation ‘going rate’ threshold will also increase in line with the average full-time wage for equivalent jobs in the UK.
Although workers coming to the UK to work in the Health and Social Care Visa route, and those on national pay scales such as teachers will be exempt from this increase, they are not entirely spared of these sweeping changes. The changes to the Immigration Rules will mean that they are unable to bring their dependent family members with them to the UK. The problem with this measure is that it is likely to deter skilled workers from coming to the UK if means being separated from their partners and children.
As expected, there is a lot of backlash against these policy changes. Whether the Government will meet its aims of reducing net migration by increasing the minimum income salary for Skilled Workers remains to be seen. To avoid getting caught up by these changes we would urge sponsors to consider their hiring needs in Q1 of this year.