From 22 July 2025, a number of key changes to the UK visa sponsorship rules take effect.
The following is a general overview of these amendments. For advice on how these changes impact your organisation, contact our specialist UK immigration advisers.
Skilled Worker Visa: higher skill bar
From 22 July 2025, a job must normally be graded at Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) level 6 (roughly graduate level) to be sponsored under the Skilled Worker route.
The Home Office reports that approximately 111 mid-skill occupations that used to qualify at RQF 3–5 consequently are no longer eligible, though industry analyses estimate up to 180 roles are affected, unless they appear on either the Immigration Salary List or Temporary Shortage List (see below).
Workers already in the Skilled Worker route before 22 July 2025 may continue to be sponsored in RQF 3–5 roles, including for visa extensions, employment changes or supplementary employment, until at least 22 July 2028 for certain roles, subject to review.
Appendix Skilled Occupations has also been restructured to separate eligible roles by skill level, with distinct tables now provided for occupations at RQF Level 6 and above, and for those at RQF Levels 3 to 5.
Employers should carefully review where a specific job appears within the revised structure, as the presence of a role in the appendix does not automatically mean it qualifies for sponsorship. Role eligibility has to be assessed based on both skill level and other route-specific criteria.
Skilled Worker Visa: higher salary thresholds
From 22 July 2025, the UK has lifted the pay floor for the Skilled Worker visa. The headline general threshold, Option A, has climbed from £38,700 to £41,700, while the PhD-relevant band (Option B) now starts at £37,500, and both STEM-PhD roles (Option C), new entrants (Option E), and Immigration Salary List posts at RQF 6+ (Option D) must pay at least £33,400, while ISL roles at RQF 3-5 must pay at least £25,000.
Occupation-specific going rates have been uprated in parallel, so sponsors must pay the higher of the annual threshold or the relevant percentage (100%, 90%, 80%, or 70%) of the new going rate.
A wage floor of £17.13 per hour applies to Options A–E for most applicants, calculated on no more than 48 paid hours a week. This hourly minimum must be met in addition to the annual salary threshold, ensuring the higher of the two applies.
Options F–J are the standard salary bands for Table 2 Health and Care codes (baseline £31,300 at 100% of the lower going rate, with £28,200 or £25,000 floors available for PhD, ISL or new entrant cases, and no hourly-rate rule).
Options F–J apply to every Table 2 “Health‑and‑Care ASHE” code including new hires, while the lower floors become a transitional concession only when the SOC code itself has moved into the continuing‑employment tables (1A, 2A or 3A); in that case they stay usable for extensions, job changes or supplementary work in the same code until 4 April 2030 (or 22 July 2028 for care worker codes 6135/6136), but cannot be claimed for new hires after 22 July 2025.
Option K, for listed health or education occupations with continuous employment prior to 22 July 2025 requires £25,000 and 100% of the going rate or the relevant national payscale rate (e.g., NHS Agenda for Change scales).
| Option | Applicable to | Minimum salary requirement from 22 July 2025 | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Standard Skilled Worker (no discounts) | £41,700 and 100% of the standard going rate. Hourly pay must also reach £17.13 (max 48 hrs/wk). | 20 |
| B | Relevant PhD (non-STEM) | £37,500 and 90% of the standard going rate. Hourly floor £17.13 applies. | 20 |
| C | STEM PhD | £33,400 and 80% of the standard going rate. Hourly floor £17.13 applies. | 20 |
| D | Job on the Immigration Salary List (ISL) | £33,400 and 100% of the standard going rate. Hourly floor £17.13 applies. No other discounts can be combined. * | 20 |
| E | New entrant (early-career) | £33,400 and 70% of the standard going rate. Hourly floor £17.13 applies. | 20 |
| F | Health & Care ASHE job or continuing employment – standard rate | £31,300 and 100% of the lower going rate. | 20 |
| G | Health & Care ASHE job or continuing employment – relevant PhD (non-STEM) | £28,200 and 90% of the lower going rate. | 20 |
| H | Health & Care ASHE job or continuing employment – STEM PhD | £25,000 and 80% of the lower going rate. | 20 |
| I | Health & Care ASHE job or continuing employment – ISL role | £25,000 and 100% of the lower going rate. No extra discounts allowed. * | 20 |
| J | Health & Care ASHE job or continuing employment – new entrant | £25,000 and 70% of the lower going rate. | 20 |
| K | Listed health or education occupation (continuous sponsorship since before 22 Jul 2025) | £25,000 and 100% of the going rate or the relevant national payscale rate. | 20 |
* For care workers (SOC 6135/6136) under the Health and Care Worker visa, the requirement is at least £25,000 per year or £12.82 per hour, whichever is higher, and 100% of the lower going rate (which is £25,000 – meaning £25,000 is always the applicable rate). Entry clearance for care workers closed on 22 July 2025; in-country switching is allowed until 22 July 2028 for workers legally employed on the sponsor’s UK payroll for at least three months.
Read our comprehensive guide to Skilled Worker minimum salary rules here >>
New Temporary Shortage & Immigration Salary lists
Two interim lists are now effective, keeping a small number of sub-graduate jobs open until the end of 2026: an expanded Immigration Salary List (ISL) and a time-limited Temporary Shortage List (TSL).
From 22 July 2025, a role below RQF 6 can be sponsored only if it appears on one of these lists. Both lists are scheduled to expire by 31 December 2026, or sooner if the Home Office decides, subject to review by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).
Newly-sponsored workers in TSL and ISL roles at RQF 3–5 cannot bring dependants.
The ISL, an expanded successor to the Shortage Occupation List, contains jobs confirmed by the MAC as in genuine national shortage, such as laboratory technicians, bricklayers and skilled dancers. Sponsorship is allowed at RQF 3–5 with a reduced salary benchmark, but each entry has a firm removal date of 31 December 2026.
The TSL, a one-off carve-out, includes occupations like IT support technicians and logistics managers, selected to support the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy. A Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) for TSL roles must be assigned by 31 December 2026, after which roles may either meet RQF 6 criteria or become ineligible.
Care workers and senior care workers (SOC 6135 and 6136) appear on the ISL with a removal date of 22 July 2028 for transitional in-country switching, but entry clearance sponsorship for these roles closes on 22 July 2025.
Dependants curbed for lower-skilled roles
Applicants newly sponsored on or after 22 July 2025 in any RQF 3–5 job on the ISL or TSL cannot bring new dependants. This restriction is tied to the skill level of the ISL/TSL role, not the list itself. Family members who already hold valid leave granted before 22 July 2025 can continue to extend their visas, provided normal family-route maintenance rules are met. Roles at RQF 6 or above, and workers sponsored in RQF 3–5 roles before 22 July 2025, are unaffected.
Care worker route closes to new overseas recruits
Entry clearance applications for care workers and senior care workers (occupation codes 6135 and 6136) are closed from 22 July 2025, effectively ending the Health and Care Worker Visa route for new overseas applicants.
In-country “switchers” can still be sponsored until 22 July 2028, provided they have been legally employed on the sponsor’s UK payroll for at least three months before the CoS is issued and ensuring full compliance with UK employment laws.
The in-country switch concession for care workers ends on 22 July 2028.
Five roles, including dental nurses (SOC 6133), have been removed entirely from sponsorship eligibility due to not meeting RQF 6 or ISL/TSL criteria.
GBM & Scale Up Visas: higher salary thresholds
Under the Global Business Mobility umbrella, from 22 July 2025, a Senior or Specialist Worker or UK Expansion Worker must earn at least £52,500 a year, up from £48,500, while the Scale-up visa threshold rises from £36,300 to £39,100.
For the Graduate Trainee strand, the floor climbs to £27,300, replacing the previous £25,410, with matched uplifts to the “70% of going-rate” tables based on 2024 ASHE data.
GBM categories continue to count only the first 48 paid hours a week towards the annualised salary.
The rebuilt Appendix Skilled Occupations now lists only roles assessed at RQF level 6 or above as automatically eligible for new GBM and Scale up sponsorships. Sub-graduate codes, including medical and dental technicians, teaching assistants and all NHS Agenda-for-Change Bands 1–4, are removed and cannot be used for new sponsorships.
A new Table 2b offers transitional cover for 15 occupation codes downgraded below RQF 6 (e.g., logistics managers, CAD technicians, database administrators). Employers may continue to sponsor only those workers who held GBM leave before 4 April 2024, and only until 4 April 2030; fresh recruits in these codes are now barred.
Need assistance?
These changes affect what are arguably the more complex aspects of the UK visa sponsorship regime: skill and salary levels. Employers will need to take note not only when recruiting new workers for sponsorship, but also when existing sponsored workers are looking to extend or switch visa categories, or to apply for settlement. For example, for an existing Skilled Worker visa holder who is extending after 22 July 2025, the role now has to meet the new RQF level 6 criteria for a Skilled Worker visa and if not, assess if the role falls under the Temporary Shortage List to be able to continue sponsorship. Likewise, if a Skilled Worker is looking to apply for ILR, their salary when applying must meet the new, higher threshold, which may require salary planning over time.
As such, under the new rules, strategic workforce planning, including role design, salary structuring and talent pipeline development, will now be critical to maintaining access to global talent.
Given the scale and immediacy of the changes taking effect, contact our advisers to understand how the new rules impact your organisation’s ability to sponsor overseas workers, particularly in roles below RQF Level 6 or when applying the revised salary thresholds.
