UK Government alters UK visa rules for skilled workers, carers and students – Daily Business

The UK government has announced revisions to its UK visa rules, affecting skilled workers, healthcare providers and students. New legislation laid before Parliament on 12th March 2025 states that UK employers will now have to prioritise foreign workers already residing in England before recruiting talent from overseas. 

The changes will be effective from 9th April 2025. Care providers bidding to hire workers from overseas will first have to prove they have made efforts to employ someone already present in the UK who requires new visa sponsorship. 

What will be the impact of this new legislation? 

The aim of these measures is to ease the UK’s reliance on overseas recruitment. However, providing they’ve done all they can to seek UK-based foreign workers, employers can then enlist the help of an immigration solicitor like Reiss Edwards to help them navigate the work visa system by complying with the latest Home Office guidelines. The leading immigration lawyers are entrusted by some of the biggest companies in the UK to support them in their goal to hire top talent from abroad. These are professionals who deal directly with the Home Office, almost on a daily basis. 

There are to be alterations to the Skilled Worker Visa too, which will also be effective from next month. The minimum salary required for an applicant to receive a Skilled Worker Visa will rise from £23,200 per annum to £25,000 per annum. This is designed to reflect the increase in the UK’s minimum wage. 

Stephen Kinnock, the minister of state for care, acknowledged the vital role overseas care workers play in the UK healthcare sector. However, Kinnock said the government’s primary aim was to clamp down hard on employers that have exploited overseas workers for too long in the healthcare industry. The aim being to encourage foreign care workers already in the UK to return to work, thereby reducing the country’s reliance on migrating more workers from overseas. 

It’s not just health care workers that have been affected by these latest changes. Students will also need to consider their options. Alterations to the short-term student route will increase powers for caseworkers to deny visa applications which do not appear legitimate. 

Currently, overseas students studying English in the UK for between six and 11 months are permitted to apply for a permit. However, the Home Office has long been concerned that this route is open to abuse by those who don’t plan to study or leave the UK at the end of their program. 

Are international students becoming less attracted to studying in the UK? 

There has been a significant decline in the number of UK-sponsored student visas in the last year. The number fell 31% year-on-year from over 600,000 in 2023 to 415,103 in 2024. According to an organisation called Universities UK, a representative body for 141 colleges and universities in Britain, efforts to slash net migration have led to growing confusion over the post-graduate work opportunities for foreign students in the UK. 

There are several cities in the UK which have been heavily dependent on the recruitment of international students. In the West Midlands, the city of Coventry posted the second-highest percentage of international students in England after London. 

Coventry University cites Brexit as having a “profound impact” on its ability to attract EU students to their courses. Since August 2021, new students from the EU have typically had to pay international student fees and are ineligible for tuition fee loans. The Turing Scheme was the UK’s answer to the Erasmus+ programme. However, it only funds British students to study and work overseas and not vice versa. 

For more details on the latest surrounding the UK’s visa system, check here: 

• Are students finding the UK less attractive for undergraduate and postgraduate education? 

• Read more details on the rules prioritising England-based care workers.