UK Announces Significant Increase to Immigration Skills Charge and Reforms to Work Routes

The UK government has announced a significant increase to the Immigration Skills Charge as well as reforms to key work routes and progress in the UK’s transition to eVisas.

Effective 16 December 2025, the Immigration Skills Charge (the amount sponsors must pay per year to sponsor individuals under work routes, including Skilled Workers) will increase by 32%.

Large sponsors will be required to pay £1,320 per year, an increase from the current £1,000 per year, whilst small or charitable sponsors will be required to pay £480 per year, an increase from the current £364 per year.

Actions for Employers

Employers should review their pipeline of new hires and existing employee populations to determine who may require sponsorship and where possible bring forward applications to avoid the increase. Employers should also assess the impact of this increase on the company’s budget for immigration and its potential consequences for future recruitment and sponsorship.

INCREASED ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

From 8 January 2026, main applicants applying under the Skilled Worker, Scale-Up and High Potential Individual routes will be required to evidence English language proficiency at Level B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, an increase from the current Level B1. This change will only apply to individuals making their first applications, with those already holding permission in these routes able to extend without having to evidence this higher level of proficiency.

Other planned changes to English language requirements, including for work route dependants, are being deferred for the time being.

REDUCED GRADUATE VISA LENGTHS

From 1 January 2026, the length of permission under the Graduate route will be reduced from two years for non-PhD graduates to 18 months. The length of permission for PhD graduates will remain unchanged at three years.

Employers should be conscious of this reduction when recruiting graduate talent who may require sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route at an earlier stage. Such individuals remain eligible for reduced salary thresholds when applying as “new entrants” to the labour market.

EXPANSION OF HIGH POTENTIAL INDIVIDUAL ROUTE

The High Potential Individual route allows recent graduates from eligible overseas universities to be granted permission in the UK valid for two years, which includes the right to work.

From 4 November 2025, the number of eligible universities will be doubled, however, an annual cap of 8,000 applications a year will be introduced.

EVISA TRANSITION

The UK continues in its transition to a digitalised immigration system, and the Home Office has announced the next phase involving the removal of 90-day vignette passport endorsements for most main applicants on non-work or study routes, as well as dependants of those on work and study routes which transitioned in July. Going forward, applicants will only be granted digital eVisas as opposed to physical immigration documents.

TEMPORARY SHORTAGE LIST

Separately, the Migrant Advisory Committee (MAC) has published its Stage 1 report as part of its two-stage review of the Temporary Shortage List (TSL). The TSL was introduced in July 2025 to allow time-limited visa sponsorship in “medium skilled” roles that would not otherwise meet the skills threshold for the Skilled Worker route.

As part of this review, the MAC identified 82 occupations as potentially crucial to prioritised sectors (i.e. Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Energy Industries, Creative Industries, Defence, Digital and Technologies, Financial Services, Life Sciences, and Professional and Business Services) and the delivery of critical infrastructure.

The MAC has made several policy recommendations, among them:

• Occupations should be included on the TSL for initial periods of three years, after which their continued inclusion is to be reviewed against sector Jobs Plans
• TSL visas should be issued for periods of between three to five years, but no firm recommendation was made on whether time spent as a TSL visa holder should count towards qualifying residence periods for indefinite leave to remain applications
• The discounted salary option for “new entrants” should not apply to those sponsored for a TSL visa

As part of its Stage 2 review, the MAC will allow interested employers to contribute evidence of which occupations should be eligible for inclusion on the TSL as part of a Call for Evidence, after which the government may seek to implement some or all of the MAC’s final recommendations.