Employment & Pensions Blog: The Government’s White Paper on “Restoring Control over the UK Immigration System”

In response to growing public and political concerns that the current levels of legal migration are sustainable, last week the Government published a White Paper setting out its plans for reshaping the immigration system in the hope of reducing net migration in the UK.

The White Paper sets out 5 main principles:

1. To reduce net migration.
2. Linking the immigration system to skills and training requirements.
3. To make the system fair and effective.
4. Enforcement of rules- in particular the crackdown on illegal working and deportation of foreign criminals.
5. To support integration and community cohesion.

Skilled Workers: Raising the Thresholds

To reduce lower skilled migration, under the Skilled Worker visa route, the minimum skill level will increase from RQF Level 3 (equivalent to A-levels) to RQF Level 6 (equivalent to degree-level occupations).

In addition to increasing the skills threshold, the salary thresholds are also set to rise “to ensure that international recruitment is never a cheap alternative to fair pay”. Whilst we don’t know what the new salary threshold is going to be yet, we do know that the Immigration Salary List - which currently gives certain people discounts from the salary thresholds - will be abolished entirely.

Skilled worker visas can only be issued to people working in one of the roles on the eligible occupations list, and the Home Office suggests that these changes to skill and salary thresholds will reduce the number of eligible occupations by 180.

Existing Skilled Worker visa holders will continue to be able to renew their visa using the existing skills and salary thresholds. However, once these changes are implemented, applicants from overseas or those applying to switch from another visa will have to follow the new rules.

Immigration Skills Charge (ISC)

When issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship to a skilled worker, the business must pay an ISC that cannot be passed back to the worker. For medium and large businesses, the current rate is £1,000 for the first 12 months, and £500 for every additional 6-month period. In a blow to businesses, the Government plans to increase the ISC for the first time since its introduction in 2017, proposing a 32% rise is intended to bring ISC rates in line with inflation.

English Language Requirements

There will be an increased English language requirement for applicants as well as their dependants.

Adult dependants, including those accompanying workers, students, or family route sponsors of visa holders, are not currently required to demonstrate any proficiency in the English language. The Government will now introduce a new requirement whereby they must demonstrate a basic level of English at the visa application stage. Their standard of English must have improved at the point the visa is extended, and it must have improved again when applying for settled status.

These changes significantly raise the language expectations for migrant families and reflect broader reforms to settlement and citizenship, which will increasingly require proof of long-term integration in the UK. The increased language requirement may now require the individuals to undergo some formal training.

Closing the Social Care Visa Route

Starting in 2025, new applications for care workers and senior care workers under the Health and Care Worker visa route will no longer be accepted from outside the UK. This marks a significant policy shift away from recent dependence on international recruitment to address chronic staffing shortages in care homes and domiciliary care services. Instead, the Government has committed to addressing workforce challenges through domestic labour market reforms.

The White Paper provides a twofold justification for closing the care worker visa route: first, it argues that the sector has become structurally reliant on low-paid overseas workers; second, the Home Office maintains that ongoing shortages in adult social care stem not from a lack of available workers, but from poor pay, inadequate working conditions, and limited opportunities for career advancement.

In short, the Government’s plan seems to be that if you increase pay in the social care sector, more British people will want to do the work, and the sector will be less reliant on overseas labour. The obvious question: where is the money for all these increased wages going to come from in a sector that has notoriously thin margins? We can but wait and see.

Earned Settlement

The White Paper outlines a major overhaul of the UK’s approach to long-term residence with the introduction of a new “Earned Settlement” model. Under this model, the standard qualifying period for employees to obtain settlement will double from the five it is now, to ten years. However, individuals may be able to shorten this period if they can demonstrate that they have contributed to the UK’s economy and society.

Comment

The changes are due to come into force over the course of this Parliament. In preparation, businesses should review their current and future recruitment and sponsorship plans. These changes will undoubtedly lead to a big reduction in the number of migrants coming to work in the UK. This result could be gaps in the labour market in certain hob roles that are difficult to recruit into from within the UK.

If businesses require any further assistance or support in connection with visas or the right to work more generally, please contact a member of the Employment team.