UK migration crackdown could pile pressure on lawyers

Irregular immigration is dominating UK headlines. Hysteria has reached a level where a shocking YouGov opinion poll this month revealed 47% of those polled are under the false impression that there are more immigrants in the UK “illegally rather than legally.” With a febrile news cycle focused on boats and hotels it’s perhaps not surprising such misapprehensions are rife and yet many are unaware of the breadth of policies hitting Britain with chilling consequences for what the government calls “legal migration.”

Massive curbs to work visas this summer have kicked off a raft of immigration measures outlined in the government’s White Paper entitled “Restoring Control over the Immigration System.” We are beginning to get an idea of what “control” means in this context as a raft of legislation this parliament promises to further reduce net migration which is already on a downward trajectory following its post-pandemic, post-Brexit peak.

A summer of work visa curbs

Changes to the UK’s Immigration Rules implemented on 22 July 2025 have drastically cut the available occupations employers may hire from abroad which are deemed by the government to be less skilled. July’s far-reaching immigration changes will hit many sectors, none more so than the adult social care sector which can no longer recruit carers and senior carers from abroad to fill skills gaps. The expectation for these employers, as well as other sectors affected by the policies below, is that UK employers will train and employ the resident workforce instead of using the immigration system to fill those skills gaps from the global labour market.

Major changes to the Skilled Worker route came into effect on 22 July. The minimum skill threshold for sponsoring migrants has been raised from RQF3 (school-leaver level) to RQF6 (degree-equivalent). As a result, more than 100 occupations that were previously eligible no longer qualify. Those already on Skilled Worker visas are not immediately affected: they may continue to extend their visas, change employers, apply for settlement, and take on supplementary employment, including roles at RQF3 and above. In response to the loss of eligibility for many roles, the government has created a new ‘Temporary Shortage List,’ covering 60 critical occupation codes that no longer meet the Skilled Worker threshold. 

However, this list comes with restrictions: migrants sponsored in these roles cannot bring dependents with them, and the list itself is time-limited, tied to sectoral workforce strategies aimed at training the domestic workforce. Alongside this, the ‘Immigration Salary List’ is being phased out, though for now it continues to permit sponsorship of 25 shortage occupations — from bricklayers and graphic designers to nursing auxiliaries, dancers, and choreographers — at a reduced salary threshold. Further transitional measures apply to the care sector. 

Care workers and senior care workers who were already in the UK on 22 July may continue to extend visas and switch employers until July 2028, but recruitment of new overseas workers into these roles has now been closed off. Finally, inflation-linked increases to the minimum salary thresholds for work visas have also been introduced, raising the baseline cost of sponsorship across the board.

Other immigration reforms to watch out for over this parliament

The government has proposed other significant immigration changes for this parliament, most of which we expect over the next 18 months:

• The most controversial is doubling the standard qualifying period to UK settlement from five to 10 years, with migrants making “greater contributions” able to “earn” a shorter route to settlement.
• Major reviews of the minimum salary thresholds that must be paid by businesses to sponsor workers, as well as which occupations will remain on the Temporary Shortage List (including how the government plans to phase out the Immigration Salary List.)
• The English language requirement is set to rise for many UK visas and routes to settlement.
• The Immigration Skills Charge is set to rise by an eye-watering 32% this year.
• The Graduate visa is to be cut from two years to 18 months, although no mention has been made of any changes to the three years for doctoral graduates on Graduate visas or any changes for High Potential Individuals who have graduated from prestigious universities overseas (somewhat underselling British universities on a global stage).
• The number of workers an overseas business can send to establish a UK presence is set to double.

Launching this programme of reform, the Prime Minister insisted that further decreasing net migration and boosting economic growth are not competing priorities. I’ll leave that statement for economists to fact check. Either way, it is evident which priority mainly informs these changes.

Sir Keir Starmer’s government insists that as well as reducing lesser skilled work immigration, it will encourage more highly skilled immigration. The measures planned seem unlikely to affect many applications. High Potential Individual visas will be opened to graduates of twice as many top international universities (currently around 40). The government says it plans to streamline and expand the Global Talent visa, making applications simpler and easier, especially in science and design. The number of research intern places will be increased. A review of the Innovator Founder route will look at easing the transition for international students who want to stay in the UK to launch an innovative business. (Currently, paid work on a student visa does not include launching their own business.)

The government also promises a “new family policy framework.” The Migration Advisory Committee (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 lead to family separation and may be subject to human rights challenges. The committee suggested a lowering of the current financial requirements could be a more appropriate way to balance economic interests with the rights of British citizens and their families. Whether the Home Secretary will prioritise those rights or looking tough on immigration remains to be seen.

What can be done to prepare for these changes

With the prospect of settlement timelines potentially doubling for many migrants, practitioners should be alerting clients to the risks of delaying applications for settlement, as well as the potential benefits of sponsoring workers for longer initial periods where feasible. While clawback clauses may offer some mitigation of increased sponsorship costs, lawyers should carefully advise on the drafting and enforceability of such provisions, particularly in light of recent regulatory changes restricting the passing of immigration-related costs to employees. Missteps in this area can have severe consequences, including the loss of a client’s sponsor licence.

Though many affected UK businesses are probably unaware, sectoral workforce training strategies will be crucial if they are to continue to access skilled workers from abroad that only qualify for the Temporary Shortage List now. Nobody (least of all the government which has asked the MAC to carry out two reviews over the next 12 months of how this may work) understands exactly how this will be implemented. But there will be an onus on businesses to show they are participating in sectoral strategies to train domestic workers if they continue to rely on hires from abroad.

“Where we’ll be really unsympathetic is if a sector has said ‘we’re going to train 10,000 bricklayers’, and they train 100, then we’re going to say ‘well, tough, you’re on your own now’,” MAC chair Professor Brian Bell recently told The Telegraph indicating upcoming challenges for sectors with lesser skilled labour market gaps.

If we are to use Professor Bell's example of bricklayers – one of the occupations which can only be sponsored if it remains on the new Temporary Shortage List, the Construction Industry Training Board estimates 1,150 more bricklayers are needed each year. It is a technical and therefore expensive course to teach - even if there was funding, are there that enough vocational course places in the right regions? The building sector is more adept than most at investing in training, but what if, as is currently the case for many social care employers, there aren't enough locals wanting to train for the occupation?

Most of the questions posed by Labour’s program of immigration legislation have come from those currently on five-year routes to settlement desperate for confirmation if this change will operate retrospectively so that they too face a new doubly long, doubly expensive path to settlement. Unfortunately, we can offer no such assurance and ministers have only ruled out those currently in the UK on five-year family visa routes as dependents of British citizens from having a longer journey to indefinite leave to remain. Existing settlement rights for victims of domestic violence and abuse will be protected too, the government’s White Paper suggests.

Apart from that we can only reassure people with post-Brexit residence rights under the EU Settlement Scheme that they have the right to permanent residence after five years under Article 15 of the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement - which I can’t imagine any government would want to start unpicking. Hopefully, we should have a much clearer picture of how these reforms will be applied by the end of next year.