The Home Office has published details of forthcoming changes to the Immigration Rules, and we have set out below the key changes which will impact sponsors and Skilled Workers.   

Changes affecting care workers and care homes sponsoring overseas nationals

In most cases, any organisation which wishes to sponsor a care worker or senior care worker to work in England will be required first to try to recruit from the existing pool of overseas care workers in the UK who no longer have sponsorship (often because their employer lost their sponsor licence) and who are seeking new employment, before the organisation is able to sponsor another new recruit. As part of any Skilled Worker application, care homes will need to provide confirmation from the relevant regional or sub-regional partnership that the care home has attempted to recruit from this existing pool of workers and that there were no suitable workers available from this pool before the immigration application will be granted.

These changes only apply where the care worker will be working in England.  Applications for those who will work in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are not affected. Importantly, the changes also do not apply to workers in England who were already sponsored as a care worker or senior care worker before the changes take effect (including those wishing to change employers), or those who are switching from a different immigration route who have been working lawfully for their sponsor for at least three months ending on the date of the application. 

Changes to minimum salary thresholds and going rate salaries

The lowest minimum salary threshold which applies to certain salary options will increase from £23,200 per year (or £11.90 per hour) to £25,000 per year (or £12.82 per hour). This update reflects the latest Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) data and ensures the salary requirements remain above the National Living Wage (which is also rising in April 2025). Where necessary, changes have also been made to the going rate salary.  These changes will have a particular impact on the healthcare sector. For example, many care worker roles and those undertaking certain NHS Band 3 roles may no longer meet the new minimum salary threshold. 

The going rate salaries for healthcare and education roles will also be updated to reflect current national pay scales. 

These changes to minimum salary will apply if the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned on or after 9 April 2025. Therefore, employers planning to sponsor an individual who will be paid less than £25,000 per year (but who meets the current minimum salary and going rate thresholds) should ensure where possible that they assign the Certificate of Sponsorship before 9 April 2025 or otherwise budget to pay the new minimum salary.  

Employers will of course still need to ensure that they pay the new National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage, as appropriate.  Under minimum wage legislation, the minimum hourly rate will increase to £12.21 for those aged 21 or over from 1 April 2025 and to £10 for those aged 18 - 20.   

New rules permitting the Home Office to make subtractions from a Skilled Worker's salary for the purposes of determining if a Skilled Worker is paid the appropriate salary

Important changes are being made which impact the extent to which a sponsor may make deductions from a Skilled Worker's salary or require a loan to be repaid. These changes apply where the Certificate of Sponsorship was assigned before 9 April 2025. In particular: 

• If an employer makes deductions from a Skilled Worker's salary or where a Skilled Worker makes a loan repayment to the employer (whether in respect of immigration costs which were paid by the employer or for any other reason),  these deductions or loan repayments will now be subtracted from the individual's salary for the purposes of determining whether the individual is being paid the appropriate minimum salary and going rate salary for the role.  The subtractions will be averaged over the duration of the sponsorship period when calculating the eligible salary. The Immigration Rules state that: “The only exception is that 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.” Employers will need to take care that deducting costs or requiring any loan repayments from the employee  (either during employment or on termination) does not mean that the employee ends up being paid less than the minimum permitted salary. This follows other recent changes limiting when sponsors may claim back the cost of sponsorship from the employee. 
• Where an individual is sponsored by a business as a Skilled Worker any investment made into the business by that individual will be subtracted from their salary for the purposes of determining if the minimum salary threshold is met. According to the Home Office, this is intended to close an unintended loophole whereby applicants could effectively pay towards their own salary through investing in their sponsor’s business. This is likely to mean that it will be difficult for a business to sponsor someone where that person holds most of the shares and makes investments into the business - often referred to as self-sponsorship.
• In both cases, it remains to be seen how the Home Office will monitor this and whether additional information will need to be provided as part of any extension or settlement application.