2025 has brought a tidal wave of immigration reforms that affect every UK employer, sponsor, migrant worker, and family applicant. Here’s a clear, up-to-date guide to what’s changed and how it impacts you.
🔒 1. Major Changes to Care Worker Sponsorship
- Closure of the Health & Care Worker Visa for adult social care recruitment overseas. Only existing visa holders already in the UK may extend their stay until 2028.
- Employers must prove domestic recruitment efforts first — no more direct overseas hiring for new care roles.
- Goal: Cut up to 50,000 lower-skilled visas each year.
🎓 2. Skilled Worker Visa Rules Tightened
- Higher skill threshold: Only graduate-level jobs (RQF Level 6+) qualify outside shortage lists.
- Minimum salary rise: Most roles now require at least £25,000/year.
- No more discounts: The old salary discount for shortage roles is gone.
💸 3. Sponsorship Fees and Costs Soaring
- Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) fee up 120% to £525.
- Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) also increased by over 30% for larger firms.
- New rules mean more companies qualify as “medium/large,” pushing costs higher.
🚫 4. No More Passing Costs to Migrants
- From April 2025, sponsors cannot recover licence or CoS fees from sponsored workers.
- Salary must not be reduced by hidden deductions or investment pay-backs.
🕵️ 5. Tighter Sponsor Licence Compliance
- More robust right-to-work checks, now covering gig economy roles.
- New sponsors must have a Level 1 user with settled status.
- “Self-sponsorship” loopholes closed — investment in your employer doesn’t count towards salary.
- A new Fair Work Agency can suspend or revoke licences for non-compliance.
👨🎓 6. Student & Family Visa Changes
- Graduate (post-study) visa cut from 2 years to 18 months.
- Tougher English language rules for dependants.
- Settlement (ILR) now requires 10 years in most cases.
- The family visa minimum income remains at £29,000, keeping reunification out of reach for many.
🌐 7. Digital Status & New Enforcement
- EU/EEA/Swiss citizens must use the new ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation).
- Physical BRP cards end June 2025 — digital-only e-Visas take over.
- Visas can be revoked for even non-custodial offences.
✅ What Employers Must Do Now
- Prove local hiring before sponsoring.
- Budget for higher CoS & ISC fees.
- Remove any clauses that claw back sponsorship costs.
- Assign a settled-status Level 1 user.
- Train HR teams for e-Visa checks and ETA rules.
✅ What Migrants Need to Know
- Care roles: no new overseas hiring — only extensions for those already here.
- Graduates: post-study visa shorter, get sponsored sooner.
- Family visas: income bar remains high.
- Stay compliant — new rules make deportation for even minor breaches more likely.
