).png){kind=small}
.png)
VIsas & Immigration
January, 2024
in this section, you will find all the key information, support and updates regarding student and graduate visas in the UK.
Changes to legal migration rules for family and work visas in 2024
On 4 December 2023 the Home Secretary, James Cleverly, announced future changes to visa rules in what he described as a “five-point plan” to reduce immigration. The Home Office published more information on 21 December, including some adjustments to what had initially been announced. None of the changes had been implemented at time of writing but a timetable was announced on 30 January 2024.
What are the five changes?
Social care workers will not be allowed to bring dependants (that is, partners and children) on their visa.
The baseline minimum salary to be sponsored for a Skilled Worker visa will rise from £26,200 to £38,700 (but not for the Health and Care Worker visa, which includes social care, or for education workers on national pay scales).
Changes to the shortage occupation list to reduce the number of jobs where it will be possible to sponsor overseas workers below the usual minimum salary (which is the main purpose of the list).
The minimum income normally required to sponsor someone for a spouse/partner visa will rise in stages to £18,600 per year to £29,000 and ultimately around £38,700.
The Migration Advisory Committee will review the Graduate visa, a two-year unsponsored work permit for overseas graduates of British universities.
Source: House of Commons Library, 2024
FAQ's
When will the changes happen?
Banning newly arriving care workers from bringing immediate family will happen on 11 March 2024.
The Skilled Worker minimum salary increase will happen on 4 April 2024.
Initial changes to the shortage occupation list will also happen in April 2024 (very likely 4 April); the Migration Advisory Committee is working on its recommendation for the new list.
The spouse/partner visa minimum income will first increase to £29,000 on 11 April 2024; to around £34,500 at an unspecified time later in 2024; and finally to around £38,700 “by early 2025”.
The Home Office was supposed to commission the Migration Advisory Committee to begin work on the Graduate visa review in January 2024 (but had not yet done so at time of writing), with the committee expected to report in late 2024.
Will MPs be voting to approve, reject or amend the changes?
Unlikely.
Revision of visa regulations is done through statements of changes to the Immigration Rules. The Government says it intends to lay two such statements before Parliament, one on 19 February 2024 and another on 14 March 2024.
Why has the Government decided to make these changes?
Ministers believe that immigration is “far too high”. Net migration (the number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants) was provisionally estimated to be 745,000 in the 12 months ending on 31 December 2022.
International students, social care workers and their immediate family members (dependants) are the main contributors to the recent increase in net migration, along with humanitarian visa schemes and people claiming asylum.
The forthcoming changes follow restrictions on student dependant rules in announced separately in May 2023 and in force since the start of 2024. The Home Office says that 300,000 of the people who moved to the UK last year would not have been able to come had all these changes been in place then.
Can both the applicant’s and the sponsor’s income be counted towards the £18,600 / £29,000 required?
When applying for the initial visa from outside the UK, only the sponsor’s income can be counted towards the minimum income threshold. For extensions and permanent residence, both incomes count. People generally need to provide evidence of having earned that income for the past six months (although the exact rules are complicated).
There are also some options for people who do not earn the minimum income, allowing them to qualify for the visa by other means such as by using savings above £16,000 or in exceptional circumstances. The Home Office has said this will still be possible once the threshold rises.