The UK Home Office has made important changes to its Immigration Rules and guidance for sponsors and visa applications, most of which came into effect on 9 April 2025.
We summarise how these changes may affect who businesses can sponsor to bring to the UK, immigration costs that employers can pass on and recoup from sponsored migrants and other developments that will affect organisations with immigrant workers.
It is increasingly important to ensure sponsorship and right to work procedures are compliant, particularly as UK businesses face a rise in enforcement activity and queries from UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI).
Employers should be aware of the following developments below:
- Restrictions on self-sponsors and investors sponsored as Skilled Workers
- Curbs to salary deductions for sponsored workers
- Costs that can’t be recouped from sponsored workers
- The conduct of key personnel impacting a sponsor licence
- Minimum salary threshold rises for Skilled Workers on the most discounted rates
- The new Care Worker recruitment requirement
- Increased immigration fees
- Financial thresholds for company sizes change, which may lower sponsor costs
- Creative workers on the Creative Worker (Temporary Work) visa can’t fill permanent vacancies
- Global Talent visa – some technical changes to applying for endorsement
- Changes to visitor and ETA rules
- On the horizon – extending right to work checks to zero-hour workers
- Increased enforcement activity
Restrictions on self-sponsors and investors sponsored as Skilled Workers
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 as a Skilled Worker (if you meet the Skilled Worker route requirements).
The UK’s Immigration Rules have now changed so 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 amount of their gross salary when calculating if the Skilled Worker has earned the minimum salary required to be sponsored.
The UK government have said that the new requirement to deduct investments to meet minimum salary requirements for a Skilled Worker is to curb “self-sponsorship” or investing in a sponsor for immigration purposes. Legal advice would be prudent if this may affect any sponsored workers.
Curbs to salary deductions for sponsored workers
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 their Certificate of Sponsorship.
Money won’t be subtracted where the deduction is related to a voluntary benefit offer where the worker has a genuine choice to take it up, such as a salary sacrifice arrangement (e.g, for nursery fees). However, if an employer gives the worker a loan to pay visa fees and deducts the repayment from their payslip/ requires some other method of repayment, the amount of the repayment will no longer be considered part of the sponsored worker’s gross salary package for the purpose of meeting the minimum salary for Skilled Worker sponsorship.
Costs that can’t be recouped from sponsored workers
Until this year, the only cost an employer was forbidden to pass to or recoup from a sponsored worker was the immigration skills charge (up to £1,000). An employer now risks losing their sponsor licence (their ability to sponsor any current or future migrants) if they recoup or attempt to recoup the costs of a Skilled Worker sponsor licence fee or any “associated administrative costs” on or after 31 December 2024, or a Skilled Worker’s Certificate of Sponsorship fee assigned on or after 31 December 2024 and any administrative costs associated with that.
In addition, sponsors must not attempt to recoup the cost of a sponsor licence or associated administrative costs for any other immigration route after 9 April 2025, or the Certificate of Sponsorship fee or associated administrative costs for those sponsored on a Global Business Mobility, Scale-up, Seasonal Worker, International Sportsperson or Minister of Religion route.
The new guidance for sponsors published on 9 April defines “associated administrative costs” as “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.”
The last line of the new guidance means that while a sponsor may still expect a prospective worker to pay for their work visa, they may only recoup the cost of professional immigration advice to apply for it if they have given the sponsored worker a choice about whether to use professional advice for the visa application 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 they may suggest one.
It’s very important to obtain legal advice if your employment contracts contain any provisions for recouping the affected costs mentioned above, clawback clauses for the event someone leaves employment, or if considering any such agreements with prospective sponsored workers.
The penalty for getting any of the above wrong is revocation of a sponsor licence. This can cause significant personnel problems for a sponsor as well as reputational damage, and they may not apply for a licence to sponsor migrant workers for at least a year. In the meantime, without an organisation to sponsor them, the workers cannot work and may have to leave the country.
We can advise on challenging a revocation of a sponsor licence and on how best to approach making submissions to the Home Office where sponsors find instances of non-compliance to avoid major penalties.
The conduct of key personnel affecting a sponsor licence
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 latest guidance now adds 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. This is 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.
Minimum salary threshold rises for Skilled Workers on the most 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 £23,200 per anum (£11.90 per hour) to £25,000 per anum (£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 Certificates of Sponsorship assigned on or after 9 April are only limited to sponsored migrants on the lowest of minimum salary thresholds. This is to ensure pay remains above the National Living Wage, which has also increased from April 2025. Skilled Workers must be sponsored on a wage which is the highest of the Minimum Salary Threshold (generally £38,700 per anum without a discount) – the going rate of pay for that particular occupation as defined by the government, as well as complying with National Minimum Wage rules.
Going rates have also been lifted for healthcare and education occupations that can be sponsored on the national pay scales to reflect the latest pay scales.
The new Care Worker recruitment requirement
To help immigrant care staff at risk of exploitation or being 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 attempt to use their regional care partnership to recruit from their pool of applicants in the UK on Skilled Worker visas and in need of new sponsors.
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 via interviews or reviews of the worker’s experience and qualifications.
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 will not be working in England, 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.
Increased immigration fees
Most Home Office immigration, visa application and nationality fees increased on 9 April 2025, mostly rising by between 5 and 10%.
Sponsors, however, will note a 120% increase in the cost of a Certificate of Sponsorship to sponsor most migrant workers – up from £239 to £525. You can see the government’s full visa and immigration fee increases here.
Financial thresholds for company sizes change, which may lower sponsor costs
On 6 April 2025, the turnover and balance thresholds that define micro-entities, small and medium sized companies under the Companies Act 2006 changed. Sponsors have a duty to report within 20 working days if it no longer falls within the small sponsor regime or vice versa.
This legislation has a knock-on effect on the fee for Skilled Worker and Senior or Specialist Worker sponsor licence applications and the Immigration Skills Charge paid for workers on these routes. Sponsors who fall within the small companies regime (or are charities) can pay less.
Before 6 April, the relevant qualifying financial thresholds for small companies were no more than £10.2 million turnover and no more than £5.1 million terms of balance sheet total. This changes to annual turnover of no more than £15 million and no more than £7.5 million balance sheet total.
Creative workers on the Creative Worker (Temporary Work) visa can’t fill permanent vacancies
New 9 April guidance makes clear that if an organisation is sponsoring creatives on a Creative Worker (Temporary Work) visa it can’t be to fill a permanent position, “including on a temporary basis.” This will have implications for those who intend to renew visas.
Global Talent visa – some technical changes to applying for endorsement
Arts Council England is one of the government-appointed endorsing bodies for the Global Talent visa, endorsing those who it confirms have excelled in the areas of theatre, visual arts, combined arts, dance, literature and music so that they can apply for the work visa and route to settlement.
Film, television, animation, postproduction and visual effects applications are assessed by the Producers’ Alliance for Film and Television (PACT); those from fashion designers are assessed by the British Fashion Council (BFC); and architects by Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). An April change in the Immigration Rules brings certain requirements by these sub-endorsing bodies in line with requests by the main endorsing body for the arts – the Arts Council. There are also updates to the lists of eligible prizes and awards that qualify Global Talent and Prestigious Prizes applicants.
Changes to visitor and ETA rules
There is a minor clarification that visitors intending to undertake a Permitted Paid Engagement will need to declare this activity when seeking permission to enter the UK if asked. Nationals using the eGates are very unlikely to be asked.
Visitors from Trinidad and Tobago must now apply for a visitor visa before coming to the UK. There is a transitional period for those who have confirmed travel to the UK which was booked before 3pm on 12 March 2025: they will be able to enter with an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) like all those who don’t need a visa until 3pm on 23 April 2025.
The Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) is a prior digital travel permission operating much like the ESTA for the US or the EU’s new ETIAS for nationals who need not apply for a visa. It is now a requirement for all European as well as non-European non-visa nationals planning to come to the UK as a visitor. British Nationals (overseas) citizens no longer require an ETA prior to travel to the UK.
On the horizon – extending right to work checks to zero-hour workers
The Home Secretary has announced that businesses operating with zero-hours contracts in the gig economy will be required to carry out right to work checks as if there is an employment relationship to avoid civil penalties of up to £60,000 per worker found to be working illegally.
For the first time, checks organisations carry out on employees will be extended to cover gig economy and zero-hours workers in sectors such as construction, food delivery, beauty salons and courier services. Currently, thousands of companies using such flexible arrangements are not required to check the status of non-employees as the requirement is limited to employees only.
Expanding right to work checks to the gig economy should require primary legislation, so businesses have some time to prepare for such a change.
Increased enforcement activity
Accompanying all the changes is an increase in Home Office’s enforcement activity to tackle illegal working. Announcing the forthcoming expansion of right to work checks last month, the Home Office boasted “a ramp-up of operational action by Immigration Enforcement teams, who since July have carried out 6,784 illegal working visits to premises [up 40% year-on-year] and made 4,779 arrests [up 42%].” In the same period, 1,508 civil penalty notices have been issued.
Incorrect right to work practice does not afford any protection from civil penalties, which in the last recorded quarter amounted to over £20 million in issued fines. As well as hefty civil fines, if you are sponsoring overseas nationals you could be downgraded on the register of sponsors or lose your sponsor licence altogether, as well as the workers you are sponsoring who may have to leave the country.
Please do not hesitate to contact Vanessa Ganguin to discuss any of the changes detailed above, or general queries relating to work visas, right to work or sponsor compliance.
