Update on UK immigration changes in 2024
Update on UK immigration changes in 2024. We detailed a number of anticipated changes to the UK’s immigration system in our report at the end of the previous year. These changes, when combined, are meant to lower the country’s immigration rates. The Home Office has since provided us with more details on the date and specifics of those changes, including the shocking revelation that the majority of sponsor licences have been automatically renewed for an extra ten years without any application.
Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS)
The increases in the IHS that we have indicated below will become effective for applications received on or after February 6, 2024, following a delay in the parliamentary approval process. In order to take advantage of the lower IHS rates, applicants who are preparing or considering applying for a UK visa in Q1 2024 would want to think about expediting their application.
Sponsor licence renewals
Sponsor permits have been awarded for set four-year terms over the duration of the sponsorship scheme, necessitating an application for renewal every four years. The Home Office sent out a text message on January 24th, 2024, informing recipients that any sponsor licence that expires on or after April 6th, 2024, has been automatically extended by 10 years from the original expiration date. A licence that was supposed to expire on January 1, 2025, for instance, will now expire on January 1, 2035. Employers will benefit from lower licence renewal costs, which is good news for the time being even though it won’t make up for the recent rises in visa prices. Sponsors should confirm that the additional 10 years have been added by looking at the SMS licencing summary page. Until the sponsor surrenders it or the Home Office revokes it because of noncompliance, the licence will remain valid until that new date.
Sponsors who recently applied for renewal (and whose licence expiration date hasn’t been changed) will hear from us soon and get their renewal fee back.
Sponsors whose licences expire between January 25, 2024, and April 6, 2024, still need to apply for renewal and pay the associated costs.
Sponsors who had intended to let their licence expire in the upcoming months on the original licence expiration date will now need to proactively request to surrender the licence in order to cancel it.
Skilled Worker visa minimum salary increase
The application salary requirement will increase from £26,200 to £38,700, a roughly 50% increase. Sponsors are still required to pay the going rate for the job if it exceeds the new minimal threshold. Although it was said that it would take effect in “Spring” 2024, we now know that it will actually take effect in April 2024, most likely in the first part of the month. The transitional plans for individuals who already had a skilled worker visa by April were not made explicit in the initial statement. We now know that when the regulations change in April 2024, anyone who now have or have filed for a skilled worker visa will not be subject to the £38,700 wage level. After the rule changes, those workers are free to move companies, renew their authorization, and file a settlement application without having to meet that criteria. At those points, they will be obliged to demonstrate income development, even if the entry-level is not as high as £38,700.
Shortage Occupation List (SOL)
The minimum salary deduction of 20% that was previously given to visa applicants seeking positions in shortage occupations will no longer be in effect. A new Immigration Salary List (ISL) will take the place of the SOL, with a marked decrease in the number of roles that qualify. In anticipation of a more thorough review that would take place over time, the government appointed the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) on January 17 to perform a quick examination of the roles that should be on the ISL. A process of consultation with stakeholders will be part of the broader assessment, something that the quick review would not involve. The new interim ISL is anticipated to take effect in early April 2024, and the MAC has been required to report to the Home Office by February 23rd, 2024.
Family visas
The minimum salary threshold for a family visa will also be raised from £18,600 to £38,700 to “ensure [British and settled] people only bring dependants whom they can support financially”. After widespread negative reaction to the plan, the Home Office has done a soft U-turn and said that that the £38,700 earnings threshold for new family visas will not – as originally announced – apply from April 2024. The initial threshold will rise to £29,000 with a phased increase to £34,500 later this year and then to £38,700 in early 2025. As with Skilled Workers, the new thresholds will not apply to those already in the UK on a family visa when the rules change. So, for example, the annual income threshold for someone currently on a partner visa that expires in Q1 2025 will still be £18,600.
Student visas
The government is requesting that the MAC examine the Graduate visa pathway in addition to taking away from most international students the ability to bring family members into the UK from January 1. Graduates from UK universities frequently use the Graduate visa, a post-study work permit, however the government is worried about the quantity of applications and whether the visa is best for the UK. The fact that the evaluation is probably going to take until the end of 2024 provides some relief to this year’s graduating class who were worried that the Graduate visa will be curtailed or closed (as it also happened in 2012).
Penalties for illegal working
Employers who hire undocumented workers will face fines that are tripled—from £15,000 to £45,000 for a first infringement to up to £60,000 for subsequent infractions. Strong procedures are needed now more than ever since, as before, completing a legitimate right to work check will give employers a statutory justification (defence) against fines for illegal work. All UK employers must do right to work checks as part of their onboarding process; however, sponsors must take particular care to ensure that their right to work check procedures are excellent, as this is a critical sponsor obligation. Originally scheduled to take effect on January 22, 2024, the hikes are now anticipated to occur on February 13.
Business visitors to the UK
The regulations pertaining to business travellers will be somewhat loosened as of January 31, 2024.
The present prohibition on working directly with clients will be lifted for travellers within the same group. Workers from a related group company located outside of the UK will have the ability to teach, share information and skills with colleagues and clients, and offer advice and consultation. However, only if those actions are necessary for the UK firm to complete a project or provide a service, as opposed to an international company doing so. Additionally, all interactions with clients must be incidental to their overseas work.
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Visitors can work remotely on tasks related to their overseas employment under the updated rules (as opposed to only the guidance, which is the existing situation), but there is a crucial caveat: this cannot be the main reason for their visit. For instance, as you might assume, someone on vacation in the UK is able to answer calls and reply to emails from headquarters. However, the general idea that guests are unable to “work” is still in place. Therefore, it is still prohibited for a tourist to enter the UK with the express intent of working remotely for a few months, such as when working as a digital nomad or when an employee’s visa to another country has expired and they need to temporarily relocate there.
Experts in a particular field who are invited by a UK-based organisation for a “permitted paid engagement” will not require an additional visa and may remain for a duration exceeding one month. The approved activities, which are being expanded to include conference speaking engagements for a fee, have to be completed within 30 days of being in the UK.
Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)
The online registration programme for tourists to the UK is currently available for citizens of Qatar and will be available to travellers from other Middle Eastern nations starting on February 1, 2024, for any trip to the UK beginning on February 22. Before the end of the year, a rollout to all other nations, including the US and the EU, is anticipated. See our most recent update for further details.
Youth Mobility visas
The programme will include Uruguay and Andorra as of January 31, 2024, and Australian and Canadian citizens will no longer need to be 30 years old to qualify—they can now be 35 years old. In order to align their programme with the current regulations for candidates from New Zealand, they will also have the option to extend their two-year visa for an additional year, for a total of three years.
Digitisation
As we mentioned in our article from December, eVisas and digital status will continue to take the place of biometric cards by the end of 2024. The long-awaited launch of an alternative online sponsorship method is part of a larger digitization of the immigration system, which includes that process.
A Statement of Changes that will be released eventually will contain all of the information regarding the new regulations that take effect in April. In order to take advantage of the current criteria, employers who are considering sponsoring employees for UK roles or positions paying less than £38,700 should attempt to expedite recruiting and sponsored visa applications by April.
Additionally, since their current visa cannot be renewed, we advise employers to check the status of any UK-based coworkers who are not now on a sponsored visa but may require one in the future. This will cover people on student, graduate, youth mobility, high potential individual, and even limited intra-company transfer visas, for instance. Employers should think about transferring them into the Skilled Worker category before April, earlier than anticipated, even if they still have months remaining on their present visas, as part of longer-term worker retention strategies.
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WHATSAPP CHANNEL -The London Daily Channel is a place where you can learn about different things in the UK, such as education, how people live, staying healthy, finding work, and job openings. The posts will be useful for people who have recently arrived in the UK, such as students, job seekers, or tourists. Join With Us: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va4bIhd6GcGCVFJLgE2L