There has been a number of significant changes, updates and amendments to the Immigration Rules, affecting sponsorship and a number of other immigration routes.
The new Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules (HC 733) was published on 12 March 2025. A number of substantial amendments were made, including more significant changes to sponsorship and Skilled Workers.
The Explanatory Memorandum explains that the main changes to the Immigration Rules are:
- “Introduction of a Visit Visa requirement on Trinidad and Tobago
- Changes to Appendix Ukraine Permission Extension and Homes for Ukraine Schemes
- Changes relating to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- Adding children (aged 18 and under), visiting the UK as part of a French school group, to the list of those who do not need an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA)
- Appendix ETA – introducing an exemption for British Nationals (Overseas)
- Appendix Short-Term Study (English Language) – inclusion of a genuine intention to study requirement.
- Skilled Worker – changes to the provisions for care workers and senior care workers.
- Skilled Worker – routine update to the minimum salary requirement and changes concerning deductions from an applicant’s salary.
- Updates to the Global Talent and Global Talent: Prestigious Prizes routes
- Annual update of the Permit Free Festival (PFF) list for 2025
- Update to the annual quotas of Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) partner countries for 2025
- Changes to Appendix Child Student relating to Child Student safeguarding
- Changes to Administrative review to remove “error correction grants” and amend Administrative review validity rules.
- Changes regarding PhD students following supervisors to another institution”
Nationals from Trinidad and Tobago to be subject to visa requirements from 23 April 2025
One of the most significant changes that has come from the Statement of Changes is that the country of Trinidad and Tobago has been removed from Appendix Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) and, in turn, has been added to Appendix Visitor.
As nationals will now be subject to the Immigration Rules as laid out in Appendix V: Visitor, they will no longer be permitted to benefit from the ETA scheme, and they will have to demonstrate that they are genuine visitors.
This is due to a spike in asylum claims in the last year, where nationals of Trinidad and Tobago have entered the UK for “purposes that are not permitted under the Immigration Rules for Visitors, such as to live, work or claim asylum in the UK”. This significant increase (from just 49 asylum claims per year between 2015 and 2019, to 209 asylum claims just in the last quarter of 2024) has led to the implementation of a visa requirement for nationals of Trinidad and Tobago, however, the UK government has maintained that this will be kept under review.
It has also been confirmed that there will be a transitionary period of six weeks to allow for nationals of Trinidad and Tobago who had already obtained an ETA and had prebooked travel to the UK.
The ETA application system for nationals of Trinidad and Tobago closed at 3pm on 12 March 2025. Nationals of Trinidad and Tobago will also now have a mandatory obligation placed upon them when transiting through the UK to apply for a Direct Airside Transit visa.
Changes to the recruitment of care workers
An interesting and significant update outlined in the Statement of Changes includes new rules to prioritise recruiting care workers in England. These rules come into effect on 9 April 2025, and they state that any care homes or care providers in England (care roles in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland remain largely unaltered) who wish to recruit any foreign workers (who are based outside of the UK), must demonstrate that they have, firstly, attempted to recruit a worker who is currently based in England and requires a new sponsored care role (i.e. a displaced worker).
A care provider employer should contact their local regional care partnership authority and acquire evidence that they have genuinely attempted to recruit from existing and displaced workers within England, prior to sponsoring workers who wish to enter from overseas. The onus is on care providers to ensure that they have prioritised workers who are currently in England.
It is also important to note that this upcoming change does not affect Skilled Workers who are currently sponsored as care workers in England, prior to the changes taking place.
The Minister of State for Care, Mr Kinnock, stated the following:
“International care workers play a vital role in our social care workforce. We value their contribution and work supporting vulnerable people across the country every day. As we crack down on shameful rogue operators exploiting overseas workers here in the UK, we must do all we can to get the victims back into rewarding careers in adult social care. Prioritising care workers who are already in the UK will get people back to work reducing our reliance on international recruitment, and make sure our social care sector has the care professionals it needs.”
This is part of the current government’s wider ‘Plan for Change’, which includes “linking immigration, skills and visa systems to grow our domestic skills, end reliance on overseas labour and boost economic growth”.
Changes to the minimum salary for Skilled Workers, including changes to new entrants
Last year, we reported on the significant changes to the Skilled Worker minimum salary requirements. From 9 April 2025, the minimum salary will further increase from £23,200 per year to £25,000 per year, following the government’s annual salary reviews.
Healthcare and education roles have also had their minimum salaries updated, in line with recent changes, and other general Skilled Worker going rates have been amended to reflect the new minimum salary threshold of £25,000 per year.
New entrants also have a new restriction imposed upon them, if they wish to further benefit from reduced salaries in Skilled Worker roles.
Previously, there were few restrictions on which country a qualification could be achieved in, when studying towards a recognised professional qualification. However, the Statement of Changes has clarified that the qualification must now be from a UK based institution, in order to qualify for the new entrant salary rates. This may negatively affect certain professional qualifications, where the regulatory body specifically recommends a European training route, for example, veterinary professionals. Care should be taken when sponsoring a new entrant, so that the sponsor organisation remains compliant with their duties.
Changes regarding salary deductions and increased compliance
One major change which has been introduced is information regarding salary deductions. The Statement of Changes states the following:
“SW 14.2A. Any money paid by the applicant to the sponsor (or a related organisation) will be considered as follows:
(a) The following payments will be subtracted from salary, unless (c) applies:
(i) deductions from salary; or
(ii) repayments of loans; or
(iii)investments.
(b) Any such subtractions will be averaged over the length of time the applicant is being sponsored for, for the purpose of salary considerations.
(c) Money will not be deducted where the payment is not related to business costs, immigration costs or investment, but rather an additional benefit offer which the applicant has a genuine choice whether to take up, for example salary sacrifice arrangements.”
This change could affect common employer to employee loan repayments for the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), application and priority visa fees and dependant visa application fees. Furthermore, investments are now explicitly covered, which was previously viewed as a loophole where workers could ‘invest’ into the company and therefore, cover the cost of their salary.
The government has maintained that these new changes are a part of its wider plan to prevent the exploitation of workers, and to uphold the integrity of the sponsorship system.
We are currently awaiting further clarification regarding salary deductions, and precisely what is included in this. Any further updates will be posted.
How these changes may affect your business and workers
Extra care should be taken by employers when determining salary thresholds and any applicable salary discounts for sponsored workers. Recruitment and internal HR processes should be reviewed, and potentially updated, to ensure that the new changes are taken into account regarding salary thresholds and salary deductions.
The government are due to release a White Paper regarding immigration law and processes in Spring 2025. Additionally, we should also see the published results of the MAC review of IT and engineering sectors shortly, which could lead to future changes to the Immigration Salary List and wider policies.
It remains imperative that employers continue to regularly review any updates to the Immigration Rules or sponsorship guidance, and ensure that they stay compliant. We are seeing a huge rise in UKVI compliance action. Here, at Carter Thomas Solicitors, we are highly experienced in providing compliance reviews and mock UKVI audits, as well as Right to Work training.
How our Immigration Solicitors can help
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