In May 2025, the Prime Minister announced several proposed reforms to the UK’s immigration system including the 2025 White Paper. This includes landmark schemes aligned with the aim of reducing migration, making it more difficult for skilled workers to work abroad and reside in the UK long term. In the UK Government’s 2025 White Paper, ‘Restoring Control Over the Immigration System,’ the reforms are designed: to help reduce net migration, hold employers to more accountability and to strengthen the UK’s borders. However, it is important to understand that these reforms are not set in stone and are subject to change.
Here are some of the potential reforms that could affect employers below:
Skilled Worker Visa Reforms:
- Under the Skilled Worker Visa:
- Those who follow this route were eligible to get level 3 roles (A-Level equivalent), but the proposed reforms now require a level 6 classification (degree level).
- Alongside the higher qualification demanded, there are further requirements for the salary threshold to rise but this has not been quantified.
- The immigration skill charge will also rise, by 32%, which is likely to put further pressure on employers because the increase in going rates and threshold will act as a barrier to sponsorship.
- There will also be a new established ‘Temporary Shortage List’ by the Home Office entailing the restricted and time-limited eligibility for the occupations below level 6. Although it is unknown what occupations is to be on that list, the Home Office has suggested that there will be other requirement for employers to follow. The new Temporary Shortage List will replace the current Immigration Salary List which is soon to be abolished.
- The government has also announced that oversea applications for Social Care Visas will be closed. Those who hold existing Social Care Visas can continue their work and renew their visa or can switch to the Skilled Worker Visa. There are plans to scrap the Social Care route completely by 2028 due to systemic abuse, thus giving the Government tighter control on immigration.
Extension of time-period required for Settlement:
- Currently, the minimum requirement for an individual to be considered for settlement in the UK is five years on an eligible visa route. However, based on the recent reforms, the Home Office plans to increase this from five years to ten. Moreover, the Immigration White Paper expands on how some individuals can still qualify with the 5-year pathway to settlement in the UK, but it has not yet been decided on the criterion to qualify – this decision will be finalised later in 2025. They will consider factors such as how much migrants are contributing to the UK economy, and depending on how much they contribute to society, they might be eligible for a reduced amount of time for the qualifying period.
On top of that, the White Paper mentions other reforms as well. These include:
- New right to work checks,
- New English language requirements and
- Changes to other routes such as ‘Graduate’ and ‘Sponsorship’.
A lot of these changes are to be implemented in the coming weeks whilst others are still in discussion.
