The UK Home Secretary, James Cleverly, has announced a series of new visa rules designed to restrict migration, with a significant focus on raising the minimum salary requirement for obtaining a skilled worker visa. Currently set at £26,000, the new threshold is set to increase substantially to £38,700.
Cleverly presented the new rules to parliament on Monday, emphasizing that the implementation of these measures in the past year could potentially have led to a decrease of 300,000 migrants annually. The changes will have implications for various visa categories, particularly impacting those seeking skilled worker visas.
According to reports by the BBC, individuals coming on health and social care visas will be exempt from the higher salary threshold. However, overseas care workers will face a restriction as they will no longer be allowed to bring dependents, including their partners and children.
This policy shift means that if a UK citizen marries a non-UK citizen, their new spouse will be unable to join them in the UK until they meet the elevated salary requirement of £38,700.
The move to tighten visa rules reflects the UK government’s efforts to manage immigration more rigorously. Net migration in the UK in 2022, representing the difference between individuals immigrating to the country and those emigrating, totaled 745,000, according to BBC reports.
