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Originally Posted On: https://www.cranbrooklegal.com/home-secretary-announces-that-uk-skilled-worker-salary-threshold-will-be-increased-to-38700/

Once again, it seems that immigration is a major topic of political conversation in the UK. Indeed, it isn’t too difficult to see where much of the recent impetus may have come from for the Government to announce further major changes, aimed at driving down migration to the UK.

Only as recently as November, official data was released showing that net migration had gone up by a record 745,000 over the course of 2022.

Ever since then, and amid additional political controversy surrounding the sacking of Suella Braverman as Home Secretary that same month, Conservative MPs have exerted considerable pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to do more to reduce net migration to the UK.

On Monday 4^th December, we learned how the Government will seek to accomplish that. Ms Braverman’s successor as Home Secretary, James Cleverley, threw the covers off a five-point plan, aimed at reducing net migration numbers that the new appointee said were still “far too high”.

A big jump in the required Skilled Worker visa salary – but also other headline-grabbing changes

The plan unveiled by Mr Cleverley included a number of eye-catching changes – not least the surprising move to put up the minimum income requirement for family visas to £38,700, a development that was the focus of much initial reaction.

However, that £38,700 figure was important in another sense, as it was also chosen as the new minimum salary for skilled overseas workers – a massive jump from the current £26,200.

This change, set to take effect from the spring of 2024, was framed by the Government as “encouraging businesses to look to British talent first and invest in their workforce, helping us to deter employers from over-relying on migration, while bringing salaries in line with the average full-time salary for these types of jobs.”

What else do we know about changes to the Skilled Worker visa category?

The Government has said that its full package of modifications to the immigration system, as announced on 4^th December – not only including the salary change for the Skilled Worker visa – will bring about the “biggest ever reduction in net migration. Together, this package will mean around 300,000 people who came to the UK last year would now not be able to come.”

However, as is so often the case with high-profile changes to UK immigration policy, there is a lot of “devil in the detail”. Various exemptions call into question the level of impact the increased Skilled Worker visa salary requirement will have in achieving the Government’s stated goal of driving down net migration.

We already know, for example, that health and care workers – who account for nearly half of people on UK work visas – will be exempt from this rise. An exemption will also apply to people on national pay scales, such as teachers.

The sharp rise in the general salary threshold for UK skilled worker migrants perhaps distracts slightly from the reality that only a modest proportion of long-term holders of the Skilled Worker visa will actually need to comply with the £38,700 figure.

Of the 208,000 Skilled Worker visas that were issued to main applicants in the 12 months to September 2023, nearly half of them were granted to care workers and senior care workers, who the Government has exempted from the latest increase. A further 20% of those visas were given to workers in teaching or health roles who are not impacted by the rise either, due to their salaries being determined by nationally agreed pay scales.

This leaves a remaining 30% of Skilled Worker visas – of those issued in the year ending September – that were in relation to other jobs, mainly in the private sector. As The Migration Observatory pointed out in its analysis of recent Home Office immigration data, even many of the foreign nationals employed in these remaining roles already earn in excess of the new £38,700 threshold.

All of this is before one accounts for the possibility of any further exemptions that may emerge at a later date. So, while the rise from £26,200 to £38,700 for the Skilled Worker visa minimum salary requirement is a dramatic one, in the case of most of the top occupations for which work visas were received over the past year, this change would not have had an overly heavy impact. The Migration Observatory’s Ben Brindle and Madeleine Sumption did, however, state that middle-income roles – such as chefs and butchers, whose salaries tend to hover at around the current salary threshold of £26,200 – would take the brunt of the impact of the changes.

Seek advice and guidance on your immigration situation from our award-winning specialists

With so much else yet to be revealed about the latest changes to the Skilled Worker visa category – not least when exactly in the spring of 2024 the new salary threshold will take effect, as well as whether any further exemptions will be introduced – we can understand you feeling slightly confused by the situation, whether you are an employer or prospective applicant for this visa.

Enquire to our award-winning team of experts in UK immigration law here at Cranbrook Legal, and we can advise and guide you in relation to your options.

You might, for example, wish to know more about how you can apply for this visa or sponsor a worker on the Skilled Worker route prior to the newly announced changes coming into force. Alternatively, you may wish to learn more about the situation that may apply after the changes have been brought in – in which case, we can give you the necessary clarity about your options. This, in turn, will enable you to make a suitably informed decision for your circumstances. It is a straightforward process to reach out to our central London-based team; please feel free to give us a call on 0208 215 0053 now, or to complete and submit our online contact form to arrange a free consultation with one of our qualified solicitors.