What tech firms need to know about the UK government immigration changes
Vanessa Ganguin, Managing Partner at Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law guides us through UK immigration changes affecting hires from abroad.
The first major changes from the government’s Immigration White Paper are implemented this month. Unveiling the raft of legislation, the Prime Minister promised: “we will still be competitive in attracting the world’s best talent. At the same time, we will wean our national economy off its reliance on cheap labour from overseas.”
The White Paper aims to curb lesser skilled UK immigration and settlement and make hiring immigrants contingent on sectors training a local workforce. So how will these reforms affect businesses working in the tech sector and their migrant employees?
Summer changes to Skilled Worker visas
The Skilled Worker visa has been employers’ main tool for hiring migrant talent since Brexit ended freedom of movement. On 22 July 2025 the minimum skill level for sponsoring new Skilled Workers rose from RQF Level 3 (school-leaver or A-level equivalent) to RQF6 (degree-level in skillset, not necessarily academic achievement).
Skilled Workers already on the route may still renew their visa, change sponsor and carry out supplementary work at RQF3+, but 111 occupations will no longer be able to be sponsored from abroad on this route.
As a temporary fix for sectors with skills shortages that the government regards as crucial to their modern industrial strategy (such as digital technology, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, defence, financial and creative industries) or delivering key infrastructure, there is a new Temporary Shortage List of 52 occupations below RQF6 that employers should be able to continue to sponsor. The Immigration Salary List has also been slightly expanded to 25 shortage occupations that can be sponsored on a lower general salary threshold. These include a wide range of jobs such as lab and engineering technicians, data analysts, credit controllers, graphic and multimedia designers.
You can find both lists here, along with the jobs left on the usual Skilled Worker route. Workers in occupations on the Temporary Shortage List will no longer be able to bring dependent family.
The Immigration Salary List and the new Temporary Shortage List will be phased out and occupations are currently only on both these lists until 31 December 2026 with upcoming reviews planned. The government insists that sectors should demonstrate workforce strategies to train enough British workers that inclusion will no longer be needed. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) will review the lists and make preliminary recommendations in October, after which there will be stakeholder engagement with relevant sectors on their workforce plans including a call for evidence.
The good news for the tech sector
From 22 July, 111 occupations no longer deemed skilled enough to qualify for a new Skilled Worker visa include chefs, publicans, dispensing opticians, veterinary nurses. This will cause difficulties for sectors such as retail, catering and hospitality, but fortunately most roles in digital tech firms are deemed to be skilled enough to still qualify for the Skilled Worker visa.
Many lesser skilled jobs that tech firms may need to hire from abroad feature on the Temporary Shortage List – hopefully at least until the end of 2026 (subject to the aforementioned MAC reviews). These include Electrical technicians, Engineering technicians, Welders, IT operations technicians, Database administrators, Product designers, CAD, drawing and architectural technicians.
Minimum salary rises
The MAC is set to review minimum salary thresholds to sponsor immigrant workers and what discounts should be available in the coming months. In the meantime, there are inflation-linked rises of around eight percent for general minimum salary thresholds for work visas as well as minor changes to the Immigration Rules list of occupations’ “going rate” that must be matched for any sponsored job. For example, the going rate that employers sponsoring programmers and software development professionals from abroad must meet rises from an annual salary of £49,400 (based on 37.5 hours per week, or £25.33 per hour) to £54,700 (£28.05 per hour) on 22 July 2025. (You can find out more about minimum salary increases here.)
What other immigration changes can we expect this year?
The High Potential Individual (HPI) visa currently allows graduates of the top 40 or so universities in the world to work in the UK for two years (three for doctoral graduates). The government will explore a “capped expansion” of the route, looking to double the number of qualifying higher education institutions for the next academic year. The list of qualifying universities is updated annually, with the next update expected in November.
By the end of this year there will be a hike in the English language requirement for Skilled Workers and most routes to settlement from Common European Framework for Reference for Languages (CEFR) level B1 (Intermediate User) to B2 (Independent User). Adults seeking a visa as a family dependant will have an English language requirement for the first time at Level A1 (Basic User), rising to A2 when they renew their visa.
The English language requirement may not apply to all work visas, so though this could affect some hires, there will likely remain routes such as the Global Talent visa and Senior and Specialist Worker untroubled by English ability or tests.
Employers will be less than delighted that the Immigration Skills Charge is set to rise. (The Immigration White Paper suggested a 32% hike).
A “new family policy framework” is also promised this year. The MAC recently warned that the previous Conservative government’s plan to raise the Minimum Income Requirement for Brits and settled people to bring a loved one to the UK further would cause families to suffer separation and may be subject to human rights challenges. Whether you will still have to earn £29,000 for a partner to join you here remains to be seen.
Other changes on the horizon
We don’t have a full timeline for other upcoming changes in the White Paper, but here is an outline of the other salient measures intended for the course of this parliament – so any time up to the summer of 2029.
Timescale to settlement
The most controversial measure the government has proposed is to double five-year routes to settlement to 10 years. This would make Britain an outlier in the developed world. It takes another year on top to become a British citizen, so the journey to citizenship would take some immigrants 11 years.
Those currently on five-year routes to settlement are desperate for confirmation that this change will not operate retrospectively so that they too face this new doubly long, doubly expensive path to settlement. Employers are also keen to know which workers will require double the visa costs.
Unfortunately, ministers have only ruled out those currently in the UK on five-year family visa routes as dependants of British citizens from having a longer journey to indefinite leave to remain. Those on the EU Settlement Scheme should be reassured that they have the right to permanent residence after five years under the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement.
The White Paper suggests those who contribute to society will be able to “earn settlement” in less than ten years. This may well include those who contribute through work visas such as Global Talent, Innovators Founders or Skilled Workers.
It may be a while before those on routes to settlement and their employers have certainty. We expect a consultation later this year. Doubling visa and sponsorship costs would be an added cost to employers on top of new rules involving severe penalties for sponsors that attempt to pass immigration costs onto employees.
Shortening the Graduate visa to 18 months
According to the White Paper, the Graduate visa will be shortened from two years to 18 months. There is no mention of the three-year duration for PhDs on Graduate visas being shortened too. The shorter duration is designed to move graduates into other visa routes, such as Skilled Worker more quickly.
(NB: There is an exemption from the Immigration Skills Charge for employers hiring Skilled Workers switching directly from their Student visa to the Skilled Worker route, which would work out more economical than hiring someone on a Graduate visa.)
Facilitating highly skilled immigration
An increase in research intern places is promised to help cutting edge organisations access promising young talent.
There is a promise to further facilitate Global Talent applications from “top scientific and design talent”.
A review of the Innovator Founder immigration route is promised to ensure that it supports entrepreneurial international students seeking to stay in the UK while working on innovative business ideas. (At present you are not allowed to set up your own business on a Student visa.)
Opening UK offices
The White Paper mentioned doubling the number of workers that an overseas business can send to the UK with the aim of establishing a presence in the UK. This is good news for the Expansion Worker route we help organisations expand into the UK market with.
Refugee work routes
The government will explore allowing a limited number of UNHCR-recognised refugees and displaced people to apply for employment through existing skilled worker routes. There are some organisations linking refugees with tech sector jobs, so anything to facilitate this would be welcome.
How should the tech sector react to these changes?
Given the breadth and depth of these proposed changes, proactive preparation is crucial for employers. So is reassuring current migrant workers, where possible.
The government’s main impetus is to reduce UK immigration and it would be prudent to apply for any new visas, renewals, settlement or citizenship sooner rather than later, when there may be more hurdles.
Budget for increased sponsorship costs and minimum salaries. In some cases, it may be appropriate to seek immigration advice on alternative work or personal immigration routes that prospective employees may be eligible for.
Right to work and sponsor compliance is more important than ever with changing immigration rules and increased sanctions from the Home Office. Be aware that the new Border Bill is set to extend the right to work check framework to the gig economy and zero-hour workers.
Keep abreast of developments from techUK and your immigration advisers, and as a sector be ready to work on the workforce strategy that the government will want to see for occupations no longer deemed skilled enough to be given a further reprieve in the Temporary Shortage List. Expect much lobbying from every sector of the economy.
For more details on how any of these changes may affect you or any other immigration questions please email [email protected]om.
Authors
Vanessa Ganguin
With almost three decades of specialist experience, Vanessa Ganguin works with firms of all sizes and their staff on their UK immigration paths. Vanessa often writes and presents on UK work and personal immigration issues, including options for the tech sector. Her expert team regularly assist with sponsor and right to work compliance audits and advise on applications for licences to sponsor skilled workers, scale-up sponsor licences, mergers, restructuring, as well as immigration routes to set up a UK business presence.
