Changes to skilled worker and other sponsored immigration routes
Implementation date: 22 July 2025
A number of changes are made to the rules on sponsoring workers, where the certificate of sponsorship is issued on or after 22 July 2025.
The changes include:
- raising the skilled worker threshold from RQF3 (A-Level or equivalent) to RQF6 (graduate level) or above;
- abolishing the immigration salary list and replacing it with a temporary shortage list to include roles below graduate level that could be eligible for sponsorship;
- closing social care visas from overseas (subject to transitional arrangements until 2028); and
- increasing the general and going-rate salary thresholds under the skilled worker, global business mobility and scale-up routes.
