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▼The UK made significant changes to immigration rules in 2024 and has planned further amendments for 2025.
The new requirements will impact various visa categories and some requirements for applicants, as well as travellers who currently enjoy visa exemptions for the United Kingdom.
If you’re living in the United Kingdom with a visa, preparing to apply, or planning to visit, it’s important to check how these changes may affect you. In this post, we’ll explain the latest updates to UK immigration policy for 2025.
Key updates for visitors to the UK
Here are the most important changes to UK visa and entry policies for foreign visitors in 2025:
ETA for visa-free travel from 80+ countries
All visitors who can travel visa-free to the UK will require an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) in 2025. The formerly used electronic visa waiver (EVW) system has now entirely been disbanded.
The ETA system has been introduced in phases. Nationals of more than 50 countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and the United States, now need an ETA to visit the United Kingdom.
All European citizens who can travel to the UK visa-free will need an ETA to visit on or after 2nd April 2025. Only Irish nationals are exempt.
➡️Get the full details on the rollout of the new system and which citizens require the authorisation in our ETA launch guide.
Permission granted for remote work
As of January 2024, employees of overseas companies travelling to the UK with a Visitor visa are permitted to attend remote meetings and work online while in the country.
The only requirement is that your online work does not amount to a secondment with a UK business. This means you’re able to work remotely while visiting the United Kingdom for tourism, business meetings, or medical treatment.
Recent changes to UK work visa rules
Some rules and requirements of popular UK work visas have changed. Here’s a breakdown of the latest updates to work visas:
Higher immigration health surcharge fees
The immigration health surcharge (IHS) is a payment made by foreign citizens who wish to live in the UK for more than 6 months. It’s a contribution towards the country’s national health service (NHS). Permanent residents do not need to pay the IHS.
Paying the IHS means you’re able to access healthcare free of charge while living in the United Kingdom.
It must be paid at the time you make your application for some types of visas, including Skilled Worker visas. As of February 2024, the IHS fee has increased by 66%:
- Skilled Worker visa applications: from £624 to £1,035 per year of sponsorship
- Five-year Skilled Worker visa: from £3,120 to £5,175
Replacement for the shortage occupation list
Previously, the UK government maintained a list of sectors which had a shortage of skilled workers. Employers were able to hire foreign nationals to work in these job roles with a reduced salary threshold for visa sponsorship.
Active since April 2024, a new immigration salary list has replaced this system. It contains fewer job roles than the previous list, and has applied a higher minimum salary for foreign workers.
Roofers, bricklayers, and laboratory technicians, along with professionals from 20 other sectors, can now get visa sponsorship with a salary threshold of £30,960 per year.
➡️Check the latest immigration salary list for updates on your profession and your work visa options.
Increased minimum salary for skilled workers
As of April 2024, the general salary threshold for new Skilled Worker visa applicants has increased from £26,200 to at least £38,700 per year.
For those already in the UK with a Skilled Worker visa, salaries have also increased as part of the UK immigration law updates for 2024. The required minimum salary for visa renewals from now on must be at least £29,000.
Going rates vs. minimum salary
Going rates for different job roles are now assessed from data taken from 2023, rather than 2021. If the going rate for a skilled work role exceeds the new minimum, it must be applied.
New entrants & Skilled Worker visas
New entrants in the skilled work market are classed as visa applicants without experience in their sector. For eligible new entrants, the updated minimum salary must now be £30,960 or 70% of the going rate for the role.
Updated salary thresholds for Global Business Mobility visas
As of April 2024, minimum salary requirements for Global Business Mobility visa applicants have increased. This update affects Senior or Specialist Worker and UK Expansion Worker visas.
The minimum salary threshold has increased from £45,800 to £48,500, meaning only applicants who earn above this rate annually are now eligible to apply.
Updated UK visa policies for families
If you want to bring your partner or children to the UK, it’s important to check the latest updates on family visa requirements and eligibility:
Changes to care workers’ rights to bring dependents to the UK
As of March 2024, applicants for some Health and Care Worker visas are no longer allowed to bring dependants to the UK.
This new restriction in UK immigration policy only applies to Health and Care Worker visas with SOC codes 6145 and 6146.
If you got visa approval, or were already living in the UK with one of these visa types, before 11th March 2024, you will not be affected by this update.
Note: The term dependent could refer to your spouse or partner, or your child if they’re under the age of 18.
Greater minimum income requirement for family visas
The minimum income requirement (MIR) for spousal family visas increased from £18,600 to £29,000 in April 2024. The British civil partner, unmarried partner, or spouse (or person with settled status in the UK), must now earn this amount annually to act as a sponsor.
It’s possible to show you meet the minimum income requirement through savings, pensions, or other types of non-employment income in some cases.
Exemptions from the new MIR
If you’re already working legally in the UK, your sponsor may not need to meet the MIR. Applicants with children who have settled in the UK may also be exempt.
If you made your first application for a family visa before 11th April 2024 and wish to renew it, you will not need to meet the increased threshold from these recent updates.
No financial requirements for children
As of 2024, new family visa applications no longer require additional income for dependent children.
Sponsors now need only meet the standard £29,000 annual income threshold, regardless of the number of children included in the application. This update only applies to new applications made on or after 11th April 2024.
Minimum income requirement: 2025 update
Under the Conservative government (2010-2024), the MIR for spousal family visas was set to increase again, to £34,500 in late 2024 and £38,700 by early 2025. However, since taking power in July 2024, the Labour government has paused these planned increases.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has commissioned a review of the MIR. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) will conduct the study to assess the financial impact of the policy on applicants and their families, in balance with the UK’s economic climate.
The MAC is expected to deliver its findings by June 2025. Based on this review, the government will decide whether to revise, halt, or proceed with the previously planned increases to the minimum income requirement for spousal family visas.
2025 Brexit updates for foreign workers living in the UK
As part of the UK’s withdrawal agreement with the European Union, the EU Settlement Scheme was launched to allow some people the right to remain in the UK.
The deadline to apply was 30th June 2021, but some people are still eligible to apply for indefinite leave to remain, also known as settlement.
How to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme after the deadline
If you can show reasonable grounds as to why you did not make your application in time, submit your details via the UK’s Visa and Immigration online portal.
To apply for the EU Settlement Scheme, you must be from the EU, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, or Liechtenstein, and have been living in the UK before 31st December 2020, and must currently hold settled or pre-settled status.
The same applies if you have a family member who meets these criteria.
Indefinite leave to remain for other applicants
There’s no time limit for indefinite leave to remain applications that are not related to Brexit and withdrawal agreements with the European Union.
You’re entitled to apply for settled status in the United Kingdom if you have been working in the country for 3 to 5 years, depending on your visa type.
You can also apply if you have a British partner, parent, or child, or a relative who has settled status. To make your application, visit the UK’s official government website.
