UK Visa Rules Changes in 2024 Explained

Which UK visas will be affected?

Following the announcement by the Home Office and the subsequent questions raised in Parliament with Home Secretary, James Cleverly, it appears that the following UK work visas will be affected by the tightening of eligibility criteria for applicants and their family members:

• Health and Care Visa
• Skilled Worker Visa

In addition to the above work visas, changes are also expected to the rules currently allowing holders of Student Visas to apply for their dependent family members to join them in the UK.

What will the new UK visa rules be for 2024?

The UK Government’s announcement makes clear its intention to drastically reduce the number of successful applicants for UK work visas, and to make it more difficult for visa holders to bring their partners and children to live with them in the UK. The Government is seeking to achieve this primarily through removing the right of some visa applicants to bring dependents to the UK with them at all, and by increasing two key financial eligibility criteria:

• the minimum salary requirement for skilled workers
• the minimum income requirement for work visa applicants to sponsor a family member’s application

Under the current rules, in order to apply for a Skilled Worker Visa, applicants must demonstrate that they will earn a minimum salary of £26,200 per year. If they intend to work in a job that is on the UK’s Shortage Occupation List, they may be able to earn up to 20% less than this amount and still be successful in their application.

Under the proposed new rules, the minimum salary requirement for a Skilled Worker Visa would almost double to £38,700 per year, and the 20% ‘discount’ for shortage occupations would be removed.

In response to criticism of the plans, the Home Office has sought to offer reassurance that the higher minimum salary requirement will not apply to Health and Care visa applicants, nor to individuals taking up jobs which have nationally-standardised pay scales. However, it is the proposed changes to the eligibility of dependent family members that is likely to be of most concern to health and care workers.

How will the changes affect family members’ visas?

In the Home Office’s press release, it is claimed that in the previous reporting year around 120,000 visas were issued to dependants of recipients of Health and Care Visas, with a further 153,000 granted to dependants of those holding student visas. The UK Government intends to reduce these numbers by making it more difficult for anyone in the UK legally to bring their family members to live with them, even British citizens and foreign nationals with permanent settlement in the UK.

At present, the Government’s proposals appear to suggest that the increased minimum salary requirement for Skilled Worker visas will be mirrored in the requirements for those already legally resident in the UK wishing to sponsor a family member for a visa to join them.

For example, under the current rules, individuals seeking to sponsor a family member for a visa have to prove that they have a minimum income of £18,600 per year or cash savings of at least £62,500. The new minimum income requirement is now set to rise to £29,000 per year. It is not yet clear whether these changes to the requirements for sponsoring a partner will also apply to sponsoring children.

What changes will there be to student visas?

The biggest proposed change for students—at least those on undergraduate or graduate-level courses—is the removal of the right for visa holders to bring their children or partner with them to the UK. On the basis of the information currently available, it appears that only students on postgraduate research courses will retain the ability to bring family members to the UK on the basis of their student visa.

This change to the rules for international students wishing to sponsor family members to come to the UK is expected to come into force for courses starting in January 2024.

Will UK visa fees increase in 2024?

The latest announcement from the UK Government focuses on eligibility criteria for visas and the rights of visa holders, rather than on visa application fees and associated costs.

It is not impossible that the UK could increase fees in 2024; however, there was a increase to both visa fees and the healthcare surcharge as recently as November 2023. However, with immigration policy likely to play a prominent role in the upcoming UK general election it is not possible to completely rule out further rises.