New guidance published by the Home Office this month sets out the scope of UK immigration changes announced this Spring which we wrote about here, as well as adding clarifications where necessary. Some of the updates below have major consequences. There are changes to the guidance on the EU Settlement Scheme which reflect recent case law as well as the digitalisation of the immigration system. Those affected by these changes may want to seek legal advice. However below we will focus on changes affecting employers and work immigration routes.
Anyone concerned should feel free to contact our experienced immigration lawyers.
Guidance changes for employers sponsoring migrant workers
The latest changes in guidance for sponsors flesh out the government’s recent statements prohibiting sponsors from passing on certain costs to their sponsored workers, as well as changes to protect sponsored care sector workers.
Guidance published at the start of the year had already restricted the costs that employers may pass on to sponsored employees. (Previously, the only cost that it was explicitly forbidden to make a sponsored worker pay was the Immigration Skills Charge.)
The new guidance further clamps down on sponsors expecting workers on all sponsored work visa routes to pay immigration and associated costs or attempt to recoup these costs from workers.
The new Home Office guidance warns: “we will normally revoke your licence if you recoup, or attempt to recoup, by any means, the following fees from a worker you are sponsoring:
- the Skilled Worker sponsor licence fee (including the fee for adding that route to your existing licence), and any associated administrative costs, where you recoup, or attempt to recoup, that fee or those costs on or after 31 December 2024
- the sponsor licence fee on any other route (including the fee for adding that route to your existing licence), and any associated administrative costs, where you recoup, or attempt to recoup, that fee or those costs on or after 9 April 2025
- the Certificate of Sponsorship fee, and any associated administrative costs, for a Skilled Worker, where that Certificate was assigned on or after 31 December 2024
- the Certificate of Sponsorship fee, and any associated administrative costs, for a worker sponsored on any of the following routes, where that Certificate was assigned on or after 9 April 2025:
- any of the Global Business Mobility routes
- Minister of Religion
- International Sportsperson
- Scale-up
- Seasonal Worker
- the Immigration Skills Charge for a Skilled Worker or a Senior or Specialist Worker, where you are required to pay this”.
A sponsor licence will now normally be revoked too if a sponsor recoups or attempts to recoup any “associated administrative costs.” The new guidance gives examples of what such associated administrative costs may involve: “any costs incurred by you to obtain, use or maintain your licence and includes, but is not limited to:
- fees for premium services or priority services for sponsor licence applications, changes of circumstances requests, or assigning, requesting or applying for a Certificate of Sponsorship
- fees for legal advice related to applying for, using or maintaining your sponsor licence, or assigning, requesting or applying for a Certificate of Sponsorship
- immigration advice or immigration services provided by a third party to a sponsored worker where the worker did not have a genuine choice in whether, or how, to obtain such advice or services, or where you provide such advice or services to the worker directly”.
This last paragraph of the new guidance would now mean that a sponsor may still expect a prospective worker to pay for their work visa and they could only expect them to pay for the professional immigration advice to apply for it, if they have a choice about whether to use professional advice and who will provide this. If the sponsor wants to have the option of passing on the costs of advice, they cannot dictate that the worker must receive advice from a specific immigration adviser, but can suggest one.
If a sponsor has their licence revoked it can cause massive personnel problems as well as reputational damage. It will not be able to apply for a new one for at least a year. In the meantime, it cannot sponsor its migrant workers, who may have to leave the country without a sponsor.
As well as reiterating that a sponsor licence application will be refused if one of the key personnel named in the application was also key personnel at a sponsor whose licence was revoked in the last 12 months, the guidance now says that if they were key personnel at an organisation whose sponsor licence application was refused there must be at least a six month wait before another application is made – unless the refusal was because: the application was sent by a representative; documents or information requested weren’t provided by a specific deadline for reasons outside of the organisation’s control or if the organisation applied for a Scale-up sponsor licence but did not qualify as a Scale-up.
We can advise on challenging a revocation of a sponsor licence, but this isn’t an enviable situation to be in. We can also advise on how best to approach making submissions to the Home Office where sponsors find instances of non-compliance and intend to fix these so as not to incur major penalties.
Contact our experienced immigration lawyers
In another addition to the sponsor guidance, statutory neonatal care leave is added to the reasons (such as jury service or statutory maternity leave) a worker can be absent without pay or on reduced pay without their sponsor having to stop sponsoring them.
New regime for sponsoring care workers
There are more new details on the new “care worker recruitment requirement.” To help immigrant care staff at risk of exploitation or left without work when sponsors had sponsor licences revoked in recent Home Office crackdowns, care sector sponsors seeking to sponsor new care workers, home carers or senior care workers in England, must first use their regional care partnership to recruit from their pool of applicants already in the UK on such Skilled Worker occupations who are in need of new sponsorship.
If unable to identify a suitable worker from the pool of displaced care workers, sponsors must be able to explain why and, where possible, evidence steps they took, such as interviewing them or reviewing their experience and qualifications. Evidence can include CVs, interview notes, etc. If a suitable candidate is found the sponsor must retain the usual evidence of how they identified the worker and how they are suitable for the role. The new care worker recruitment requirement applies to any Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) assigned on or after 9 April 2025. The requirement for a sponsor to try this local pool first does not apply if a prospective carer they intend to sponsor won’t be working in England or if they are already sponsored in these occupations or switching from other immigration routes and they have been working for their sponsor for at least three months.
Minimum salary threshold rises for Skilled Workers on discounted rates
Employers may be able to sponsor certain categories of Skilled Workers on discounted minimum rates of pay. The minimum salary threshold for Skilled Workers on the most discounted rates (those applying for Health and Care visas or visa extensions under rules for New Entrants, STEM PhDs or on the Immigrant Salary List or those in roles on national pay scales, such as many NHS or education roles) has been updated from £23,200pa (£11.90 per hour) to £25,000 (£12.82 per hour).
As the Government intends to shortly publish an Immigration White Paper, which may overhaul salary requirements to sponsor workers, the changes to CoS assigned on or after 9 April are being limited to only those on the lowest of minimum salary thresholds. This is to ensure they remains significantly above the National Living Wage, which is also increasing in April 2025. Skilled Workers must be sponsored on a wage which is the highest of the Minimum Salary Threshold (generally £38,700 pa without a discount), the going rate of pay for that particular occupation as defined by the UK government, as well as complying with National Minimum Wage rules.
Going rates have been lifted for healthcare and education occupations that can be sponsored on national pay scales to reflect the latest pay scales, and there are also some transitionary arrangements for going rates if sponsoring education managers, physical scientists, researchers, natural and social science and higher education teaching professionals.
Curbs to sponsoring investors as Skilled Workers and deducting costs from wages
Up to 9 April 2025 it has been possible to own or invest in a business which sponsors you to work for it in the UK so long as you fulfil the Skilled Worker visa requirements.
The guidance has now changed to reflect that if a worker was required to make an investment in the sponsor or a related organisation, the amount of that investment (averaged over the length of the visa) will from 9 April be deducted from the effective gross salary for the purpose of determining if the Skilled Worker has earned the minimum salary required to be sponsored. This severely restricts the ability of businesses to sponsor their owners or investors in some cases.
As well as invested capital, any deductions from a worker’s salary or repayments of loans that relate to business or immigration costs will now be deducted from gross salary to calculate if a sponsor has met minimum salary requirements. Deductions will be averaged out over the period that the worker is sponsored for as stated on the CoS. Money won’t be subtracted where the deduction is related to a voluntary benefit offer where the worker has a genuine choice in whether they wish to take it up, such as a salary sacrifice arrangement (eg: for nursery fees).
These measures are aimed at combatting some of the worst abuses which have come to light in recent years (especially of care workers) where migrant workers were left owing thousands of pounds for their immigration costs without the means to pay it back, while the new requirement to deduct investments is to curb “self-sponsorship” or investing in a sponsor for immigration purposes.
Sponsoring Creative Workers
Sponsors are now explicitly reminded that if they are sponsoring creatives on Temporary Work – Creative Worker visas it can’t be to fill a permanent position, “including on a temporary basis.” This will have implications for those who intended to repeatedly renew the visa.
What UK visas can TV, film, music, theatre, arts, media creatives use?
Other recent immigration changes employers should know about