The Home Secretary has announced major changes to the UK visa system from Spring 2024 including the following:

• The general salary threshold for Skilled Worker visas will increase by nearly 50% from 26,200 to 38,700 (except for Health and Care visas). Whilst this won’t affect salaries paid to existing sponsored employees for now (and transitional measures could apply when their visas are up for renewal), it will be a significant blow for UK employers (particularly regional ones) dependant on sponsoring lower-paid, but nonetheless skilled, overseas workers following the ending of EU free movement. Many of these businesses will have quite legitimately developed a recruitment strategy based on the much heralded “new points-based system” introduced in December 2020 under which the government promised that employers would be able to “recruit the skilled workers they need”, though that was of course before the publication of the latest net migration figures.

• The removal of the 20% going rate salary discount for shortage occupations and the replacement of the Shortage Occupation List with a new Immigration Salary List, which will retain a general threshold discount. The Migration Advisory Committee will review the new list against the increased salary thresholds in order to reduce the number of occupations on the list.

• Social care workers will not be permitted to bring dependants to the UK.

• The minimum salary for British citizens (or those settled in the UK) to sponsor a...

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