The Future of UK Immigration: Policy Changes and Trends

The 2025 Immigration White Paper

The 2025 Immigration White Paper was published in May 2025. It set out what the government proposed to do, not what the rules then said. Some of it has since been written into the Immigration Rules and some has not, and the difference matters. The proposals were:

• Higher salary and skill thresholds. Now law. On 22 July 2025 the general Skilled Worker threshold became £41,700 a year or the going rate, whichever is higher, and the skill level for a new applicant became degree level (RQF 6).
• Higher English requirements. Now law. B2 for new Skilled Worker, High Potential Individual and Scale-up applications from 8 January 2026, and B2 for settlement and citizenship for applications made on or after 26 March 2027.
• A shorter Graduate route. Now law. 18 months rather than 2 years for applications made on or after 1 January 2027.
• A longer qualifying period for settlement. Decided, not yet law. The idea of moving the starting point from 5 years to 10 was put out for consultation as “earned settlement”. The government announced its decision on 2 November 2026, but no statement of changes has been laid yet. See our guide to earned settlement.
• Stricter sponsorship. Tighter compliance duties for employers who sponsor workers.

The full White Paper is available on the GOV.UK website.

Salary and Skill Thresholds

The general salary threshold for Skilled Worker visas is £41,700 a year, or the going rate for the occupation code if that is higher. It was set at that figure on 22 July 2025. A lower threshold of £33,400 applies to some groups, including new entrants and jobs on the Immigration Salary List.

The skill level changed on the same date and is the larger of the two changes. A new applicant’s job must now be at degree level (RQF 6). Roles below that are sponsorable only if the occupation code sits on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List, and someone sponsored in a Temporary Shortage List role cannot bring dependants.

GOV.UK publishes no schedule of further increases, so there is no announced future threshold to plan against.

For a timeline of increases, see our threshold increase timeline. The going rate for specific occupations has also been updated. See our going rate guide.

The Health and Care Worker route keeps its own salary rules, which are lower than the general Skilled Worker threshold. It has narrowed too: GOV.UK now lists the care worker and senior care worker occupation codes (6135 and 6136) as available only when extending, updating or switching into the visa, not for a new application.

Earned Settlement: Decided, Not Yet in the Rules

The most talked-about change is moving the starting point for settlement from 5 years to 10. It is worth being exact about where it stands, because it is often described as though it had already happened.

The Home Office ran a consultation called Earned settlement from 20 November 2025 to 12 February 2026. On 2 November 2026 it published its response (CP 1707). The decision, in outline:

• 10 years is the standard qualifying period, with earnings of at least £12,571 in 5 of the 7 years before applying.
• 5 years for people who earned at least £50,271 in 3 of the last 5 years, people in listed public service jobs in health and education, and people with a British connection, such as partners of British citizens.
• 3 years for people who earned at least £125,141 in 3 of the last 4 years, or who are in a "Highest Talent Group" the response does not yet define.
• 20 years for people who have committed an immigration breach as an adult or used specified public funds in the 5 years before applying.
• The 10-year Long Residence route will close.

These figures come from Table 1 on page 42 of the response. The proposed 15-year path for jobs below degree level, and the reductions for volunteering and C1 English, were dropped.

None of this is in the Immigration Rules yet, and the response gives no start date. The Home Secretary told the House of Commons on 2 November 2026 that the changes "will begin to be laid from the December immigration rules" and "will be implemented over the course of 2027". There is no points scheme for settlement. Anything describing a ten-year wait as current law is describing a decision that has not yet been made into a rule.

For the detail, see our guide to earned settlement, our page on what changed between the 2025 proposal and the 2026 decision, and our ILR changes 2026 guide.

The Graduate Route

The Graduate route is open, and it is shortening. GOV.UK says the visa lasts “2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026” and “18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027”. A PhD or other doctoral qualification still gives 3 years. That change came from statement of changes HC 1333, laid on 14 October 2025.

The Migration Advisory Committee assessed the route in 2024 and recommended keeping it.

For employers, see our graduate visa employer guide. For a full analysis of the review, see our graduate route review guide.

The eVisa Transition

The move to a digital immigration status is done rather than planned. Biometric residence permits stopped being issued at the end of 2024. Status is now an eVisa held in a UKVI account, and it is proved to an employer, a landlord or anyone else with a share code, which lasts 90 days.

This affects how you prove your right to work, right to rent, and immigration status to services. For ILR holders, see our ILR eVisa and BRP guide.

Good Character Changes

The Home Office has been updating its good character guidance, affecting citizenship and ILR applications. For the latest changes, see our good character changes 2026 guide. Under earned settlement, the government has also announced that any adult with a criminal record in the UK will be refused settlement (CP 1707, page 8). That is not yet in the rules.

Other Changes Already in Force

• Salary paid in each pay period. From 26 March 2026, a sponsored worker’s salary has to meet the threshold in every pay period, not averaged across the year.
• The visa brake. From 26 March 2026, Skilled Worker applications from Afghan nationals are refused, and Student applications from nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan are refused.
• Sponsor licence renewal ended. Since 6 April 2024 a sponsor licence does not have to be renewed. It continues until it is revoked or surrendered.
• Police registration ended. The requirement was abolished on 4 August 2022.

Reading Announcements Safely

Immigration announcements move through several stages, and only one of them changes what an application is decided against.

• A white paper or consultation is a proposal. It changes nothing.
• A government response to a consultation says what the government has decided. It still changes nothing until the rules are laid.
• A statement of changes in the Immigration Rules is laid before Parliament and names the date each paragraph takes effect. That date is what matters.
• Which rules decide an application depends on what the statement of changes says. Many include transitional wording for applications already made. The earned settlement response notes that, unless transitional provisions are made, applications are ordinarily considered under the rules in force on the date of the decision (CP 1707, page 37).

The statements of changes are published in one place on GOV.UK, each with an explanatory memorandum, and UK Visas and Immigration publishes the announcements alongside them.

If you want someone to look at your own circumstances, only a person regulated to give immigration advice can do that. Our guide on doing it yourself or using a solicitor explains how to check that someone is regulated.

Questions and answers