2024 has seen many changes to UK immigration law and policy. Following announcements in late 2023 that the Conservative government was focussing on cutting net migration, some of the changes we’ve seen included:

• In February 2024, we saw a staggering increase to the Immigration Health Surcharge payable by migrants applying for permission to remain; this rose from £624 per year to £1035 per year.
• On 13 February 2024, the maximum civil penalty for companies found to have illegal workers rose to £60,000 (from £20,000) for repeat offenders, and £45,000 (from £15,000) for first time offenders.
• From 11 March 2024, Care Workers and Senior Care Workers have been prevented from bringing their family members with them to the UK. Many Students were also prevented from bringing family members to the UK for courses starting from 01 January 2024.
• On 04 April 2024, the general salary threshold that applies to Skilled Workers being sponsored from 04 April was increased to £38,700 from £26,200; of course, this can still be reduced depending on a worker’s attributes, but the reduced salary thresholds were also increased, as summarised in my earlier blog post.
• Going rates for roles suitable for sponsorship also saw salary increases and are now based on median Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) data as opposed to 25th percentile ASHE data as they were previously.
• On 11 April 2024, the minimum salary threshold that applies to those applying for a partner visa under Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules was increased to £29,000 from £18,600.
• On 27 November 2024, the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme was extended to citizens of the USA, Australia, Canada, Brazil, and many other non-visa nationals travelling to the UK as visitors.
• In light of the move towards the digitalisation of UK borders, Biometric Residence Permits will continue to expire on 31 December 2024, with new permits no longer being issued. However, the government recently announced that expired permits may continue to be used for the purpose of travel until 31 March 2025, as long as the holder still has permission to stay in the UK. It is, nonetheless, still advised that individuals secure an eVisa to evidence their immigration status.
• A helpful update involved the validity of sponsor licences now lasting indefinitely, as long as all sponsorship requirements

It certainly hasn’t been a quiet year in immigration law!

Will 2025 continue to see such drastic updates?

Labour promised a “fair immigration system” and pledged to “reform the points-based immigration system so that it is fair and properly managed, with appropriate restrictions on visas, and by linking immigration and skills policy”. Since winning the General Election, they ended the Rwanda returns scheme, and have confirmed that the further planned increases to the £29,000 financial requirement that applies to the partner immigration route will be halted pending a review. However, what changes are we likely to see going into 2025 – will these be as significant as those we’ve seen in 2024?

On 28 November 2024, Sir Keir Starmer confirmed that he would be imminently publishing a White Paper setting out Labour’s plan to reduce immigration. He confirmed that every immigration application pursued on the basis of employment in the UK will come with an expectation on training people from the UK labour market. However, we don’t yet know how this will work in practice.

Ministers are already working with The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) in relation to immigration policy, and their proposals will likely be voiced in 2025. Other government departments will also be involved in The MAC’s review, including Skills England, the Industrial Strategy Council, and DWP. MAC will essentially monitor key sectors that rely on international labour and provide assessments to the government in relation to why this is, and how the government can work with businesses to ensure that international recruitment is no longer the default choice. The MAC will initially focus on IT and engineering, with the Health and Care and construction sectors likely to be targeted too.

Depending on the outcome of The MAC’s review, additional requirements could be imposed on those that hold a sponsor licence when seeking to sponsor international talent. The Resident Labour Market Test – which required organisations to advertise roles to the local labour market to prove that suitable settled workers were not available – could potentially be re-implemented, requiring employers to show no-one is available to be trained. This wouldn’t address the need for skilled talent, however; it can take years to train a software developer, for example, so why would a company that needs a software developer look at training a junior member of the team when they could just hire an experienced software developer who can start the vacant role straight away? Labour could also be looking at other measures – the need to have a set number of apprentices in order to sponsor workers, perhaps?

Labour will also continue with its intention to crack down on any abuse of visa routes, and any employers who are not compliant with sponsor guidance or who breach employment laws will be banned from hiring overseas labour. These employers will also face longer bans in relation to re-hiring sponsored workers in the future, and any action plans implemented to resolve minor breaches to sponsor licence holders will be lengthened. Cracking down on sponsorship compliance will likely mean that sponsor licence compliance visits are increased, highlighting the importance that sponsor licence holders understand their duties and obligations.

Some changes we know are certain include the shift to eVisas and a digital immigration system from 01 January 2025, and the further expansion of the ETA scheme, with it applying to EU, EEA and Swiss nationals travelling to the UK from 02 April 2025.

As 2024 draws to a close, it’s difficult to know exactly what changes we’re likely to see going into 2025; however, it’s likely that Labour will continue with its plan to cut migration, and we’ll see further information released on how the government will incentivise training local talent as opposed to sponsoring workers in the future.