New UK Visa Rules Aim to Tighten Migration, Raises Minimum Salary Requirement.

By Caroline Ameh

UK’s Home Secretary, James Cleverly, recently introduced a set of stringent visa regulations designed to control migration, targeting skilled workers and their families.

During a parliamentary session on Monday, Cleverly disclosed plans to hike the minimum salary requirement for skilled worker visas. The current benchmark of £26,000 will surge significantly to £38,700. This move, Cleverly suggested, could potentially result in a decrease of 300,000 migrants annually, compared to previous years.

However, exceptions are in place for health and social care visas. Applicants falling under this category will be exempted from the elevated salary threshold. Nevertheless, a notable change impacts overseas care workers, who will no longer have the liberty to bring their dependents—spouses and children—to the UK.

An interesting implication arises: should a UK citizen marry a non-UK citizen, the latter would be unable to reside in the UK until meeting the £38,700 salary requirement.

The rationale behind these alterations, as Cleverly emphasized, revolves around ensuring that individuals can financially sustain their dependents. Hence, the minimum income for family visas will mirror the skilled worker threshold at £38,700.

In 2022, the net migration in the UK—representing the variance between immigrants and emigrants—stood at 745,000, prompting this stringent overhaul of visa regulations.

“We will ensure people only bring dependents whom they can support financially, by raising the minimum income for family visas to the same threshold as the minimum salary threshold for Skilled Workers, £38,700,” Cleverly affirmed