On Monday 4th December 2023, the UK Home Secretary announced his ‘five-point plan’ to cut net migration from Spring 2024. His proposed plan, it is estimated, will see a fall in net migration of 300,000 people per year.

The government announced these changes as part of a policy to prioritise growing the domestic workforce. There are significant changes for sponsor employers to note, although we await the finer details. Key changes include:

Care homes must be regulated by the Care Quality Commission to ensure only legitimate care home businesses sponsor care workers.
Under the Health and Care Worker visa, care workers cannot bring dependants to the UK. This could deter such workers from coming to the UK, a real concern for a sector which already struggles to recruit.
Increased general salary threshold for Skilled Worker visas will rise to £38,700 from £26,200. This is likely to have a large impact on those looking to sponsor in hospitality, retail and construction. We await details of this change to assess knock-on effects on other groups, such as those at graduate level. This focuses the system on more highly-skilled, highly-paid roles, regardless of whether they are always in short supply in the UK. It is likely this change will exacerbate talent shortages for those sectors struggling post-Brexit.
Stopping the 20 per cent ‘going rate’ salary discount for occupations on the Shortage Occupation List (“SOL”). With the expectation the SOL will shrink in its new guise as an Immigration Salary List, fewer employers and applicants will benefit from cost savings associated with SOL skilled worker visa applications.
The Migration Advisory Committee will be asked to review the Graduate visa route to ensure it works in the UK’s best interests and ensure steps are being taken to prevent abuse. This visa is widely used by graduates as a stepping stone before a skilled worker visa. Some employers will rely on this to provide time to secure a sponsor licence or for the individual to progress to a salary level to qualify for a skilled worker visa.
UK nationals seeking to sponsor foreign national dependents under Appendix FM must earn a minimum of £38,700 per year, an increase of over 100 per cent from the current figure of £18,600. This unexpected announcement will likely significantly impact those that can qualify under this visa option.

We await exact details and timing of these proposed changes, and the impact they will have on renewal applications for those already in the UK.

This plan builds on tough measures already taken by the Home Office including:

measures to prevent misuse of the student route;
increasing visa application fees; and
the upcoming increase to the Immigration Health Surcharge (set to rise from £624 to £1,035 per year of visa sought for most migrants). This increase is set to come into effect on 16 January 2024 at the earliest.

This announcement is likely to raise concerns in terms of wider impacts for UK businesses. Such changes could affect the UK’s long-term growth prospects detrimentally, and exacerbate existing labour shortages in certain sectors post- Brexit and the pandemic.

It will be interesting to see the impact of all the above on the UK’s ability to attract top talent in a very competitive marketplace. Employers will have minimal time to adapt current business models before changes come into effect. However, employers with sponsorships on the horizon may wish to get applications submitted before these changes are introduced to avoid being caught by them.

Joanne Hennessy is a Partner, TLT. This article was co-written by Hannah Eades, Senior Associate.

Migration crackdown has major implications - ​Joanne Hennessy & Hannah Eades

Migration crackdown has major implications - Joanne Hennessy & Hannah Eades