Latest UK Visa CHANGES | UKVI Updates Work Visa, Dependent visa & UK Student Visa
UKVI Updates : Today we’re breaking down every new update that has come in regarding UK visas. And there are quite a few if you’re new.
Starting off with skilled worker visas. In case you aren’t aware, the salary threshold for skilled worker visas will increase from what is currently at 26,200 to 38,700. This will be from the 4th of April, and this will be for everyone who is on a skilled worker visa except workers on a health care visa, which includes social care, education workers or national pay scales, and those classified as new entrants. But we’ll get to that point in a bit. Now, like I mentioned, this comes into effect on the 4th of April. Now, unlike skilled worker visa holders, health and care worker visa holders have their salary threshold move from 26,000 to 29,000. This won’t affect senior care workers or carer roles, but other roles which fall under the health and care worker visa will be affected.
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Visas that fall under the Global Business Mobility Visa, which is basically senior or specialist workers, and the UK expansion worker will be increasing from 45,800 to 48,500 or higher if the minimum salary based on the SoC is higher. I’ll explain what SoC is in a bit. If you’re already in the UK on this visa, you won’t be affected. For the graduate trainee, the minimum salary threshold will increase from 24,220 to 25,410 or higher if the minimum salary based on the SoC is higher. Again, if you’re already in the UK on this visa, you will not be affected. The minimum salary threshold for Sponsored and Unsponsored visas will be increasing from 34,600 to 36,300 or higher. If the occupation code specifies a higher salary for seasonal workers, the minimum salary threshold for roles sponsored under occupation codes 5431 and 5433 in the poultry production sector will increase from 26,200 to 38,700, and on the graduate visa.
The graduate visa has been up for review for quite some time now, because the UK government feels that international students were coming to study in the UK, only to access its labour market and not for actual education. And a majority of international students switching from graduate visas to skilled worker visas moved into care worker roles, which is not the intention of the government. So at the moment the government has requested for a detailed report. On whether international students are abusing the system, which universities they are applying to and graduating from, and a lot more information. You can read the whole report from here. Now. The report is set to be submitted by the 14th of May, so you can expect a decision to be made after that. On what the future of the graduate visa is going to be.
Now there’s a change to the eligibility of new entrants. But before we get into that, let me break down who gets categorized as a new entrant, because this is something that has been discussed quite a bit since December. A new entrant applicant is usually in the early stages of their career, and if they can meet the defined criteria, they can be paid a reduced salary for a maximum of four years. A skilled worker applicant can be a new entrant if they meet one of the below options. The applicant is under the age of 26 on the date of the application. The applicant is sponsored for a postdoctoral position in certain limited occupations. The applicant is working towards a recognised professional qualification in a UK regulated profession. The applicant is working towards a full registration or chartered status with a relevant professional body for the job for which they are sponsored, or the applicant is switching from a tier one or graduate entrepreneur, or the applicant’s most recent permission was under a tier four or general and the student route and meets the conditions for switching or the applicant’s most recent permission was under the graduate route.
Now, in the case of skilled worker visas, the minimum salary to get you sponsorship is 38,700. But in case you’re classified as a new entrant applying for a skilled worker visa, the rules for you are different. Your salary would need to be equal to or exceed 30,000, 960 per year, and 70% of the going rate for the SoC 2020 Occupation code. Now, in case you didn’t know what an SoC occupation code is, it’s where the government assigns codes to all of these jobs. You can find out your job code from this page, and it also defines the minimum salary for every role. The numbers assigned here might change, so I’ll share the new page from where you can see the new job occupation codes.
Now For instance, if you want to know the code and the minimum salary for an electrical engineer, the occupation code is 212, three, and the minimum salary that you can find on this page is 39,370% of 39,300 would make it 27,510. But the rules mention equal to or exceed 30,960 per year and 70% of the going rate for the SoC 2020 occupation code. So technically, if you are a new entrant working as an electrical engineer, you are allowed to earn not 27,510 but 30,960 to get a skilled worker visa. If, on the other hand, you’re a lawyer with an occupation code of 2419, the minimum salary is 52,100. So in this case 70% works out to 36 for 70. So if you take into account the previous clauses, you as a new entrant are eligible for a skilled worker with a salary of 36,470. If you aren’t a new entrant, you would need to earn 52,100 to be eligible. But with this clause, you can earn 36,470 and still be eligible for sponsorship, which is great because it is a pretty huge difference.
Is this valid for the entirety of your stay in the UK? No. The bottom line is here that the discounted rate of salaries that new entrants are eligible for is only valid for four years totally. Which basically means irrespective of which visa you’ve spent time on, after a student visa, you will get a discounted rate for the salary for the balance of those years. Assume you spent two years on a student visa and one year on a graduate visa. You are now eligible for the discounted salary rate for three more years on a skilled worker visa. Assume you’re on a student visa. You then have four years if you want to see the whole list. Along with the revised salary thresholds, you can visit the Government Circular and hop over to page 80 onwards and check out this table. This again comes into effect on the 4th of April.
Now changes are going to be made to the shortage occupation list to shorten the list. And in case you weren’t aware, the shortage occupation list allowed people whose roles fell on this list to earn a lower salary and still be eligible for sponsorship. This. Since the current shortage occupation list, most of it is going to be axed. So in the next few weeks we’ll have a much shorter list, which will be called the ISL or the Immigration Salary List, which means fewer people will be able to apply for roles that provide sponsorship with a lower income. This is also going to come into effect on the 4th of April with an interim list, and later on in the year the list will be reviewed.
And finally, changes to the family visa. When it comes to family visas, let’s be clear on what family visas are. If you’re a dependent, you’re not on a family visa, so everyone on a work visa or a student visa is not going to be affected by this. The minimum income normally required to sponsor someone for a spouse or partner visa will also rise in stages, from first being 18,600 per year to 29,000 per year from the 11th of April. Later on in the year, it will change from 29,000 to 34,500, and ultimately to around 38,700in early 2025. And this is only for new visas being issued under the family visa category. That’s all the updates we have for now. If you have any questions, drop them in the comment section below and I will try my best to help you out. Thanks
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