Key Points
- The United Kingdom will increase minimum salary requirements and reduce pathways for dependent family members to live in the UK in 2024
Overview
The United Kingdom (UK) government announced additional changes to its immigration system that will come into effect throughout 2024. These changes include the following:
- Increasing the Immigration Health Surcharges
- Reducing eligibility for dependents and spouses/partners to obtain visas. This includes revoking dependent visa eligibility for primary visa holders in health and care industries
- Reducing eligibility for student visa holders to sponsor dependent family members unless they are in post-graduate research programs
- Reducing care providers’ ability to sponsor migrant workers if undertaking activities regulated by the Care Quality Commission
- Increasing the minimum salary to £38,700 against the current £26,200 minimum, with specific exemptions applying to foreign national workers in the healthcare sector
- End the 20% going rate salary discount for shortage occupations and replace the Shortage Occupation List with a new Immigration Salary List, which will retain a general threshold discount
According to the government announcement, these measures aim to cut immigration by over 300,000 in the coming year.
Additional Insights
Antonio Lam, Director of Immigration at Envoy Global UK, noted that these changes will make migration to the UK more difficult in the coming years and will likely impact industries that currently rely on migrant workers. Lam observed that the new minimum salary rate is higher than UK workers’ median average salary.
Looking Ahead
Continue to check the UK government’s website for the latest updates and information.
Written by: Jessie Butchley, Global Immigration Writer, Envoy Global
Source: Secretary of State for the Home Department, UK
