The following changes to the Skilled Worker route are coming into effect on 4 April 2024:
- The general minimum salary threshold will increase from £26,200 to £38,700
- For PhD related employment the general minimum threshold will be £34,830 or 90% of the new going rate
- For PhD holders in a STEM related subject the general minimum threshold will be £30,960 or 80% of the new going rate
- For job offers on the new Immigration Salary List, which replaces the Shortage Occupation List from 4 April 2024, the general minimum salary threshold will be £30,960 and the going rate under the new SOC 2020 code
- For new entrants the new threshold will be £30,960 and 70% of the new SOC 2020 code
- For Health and Care workers the general minimum salary threshold will be £29,000 per year. New going rates will apply where they exceed the general minimum.
Transitional arrangements will apply until 4 April 2030 for those who were granted permission as a Skilled Worker under the rules before 4 April 2024 and had a continuous permission as a Skilled Worker since then. Transitional arrangements will apply at the time of extension as follows:
- The general minimum salary threshold will be £29,000 for those who are extending their most recent permission for work with the same employer (although not necessarily in the same SOC code);
- For PhD related employment the general minimum threshold will be £26,100 or 90% of the new going rate
- For PhD holders in a STEM related subject the general minimum threshold will be £23,200 or 80% of the new going rate
- For new entrants under the transitional arrangements the new minimum salary threshold will be £23,200 and 70% of the new SOC 2020 code
- For Health and Care workers the general minimum salary threshold will be £23,200 per year and the new SOC 2020 code.
Transitional arrangements include a table of lower going rates for physical scientists, natural and social science professionals and higher education teaching professionals where applications for extension made before 1 December 2026.
Applications for indefinite leave to remain for Skilled Workers will be subject to the same transitional arrangements in respect of the general minimum salary threshold. In other words, those who were granted initial permission as a Skilled Worker under the rules in place before 4 April 2024 will be subject to the general minimum salary threshold of £29,000, unless they can rely on a reduction of the general minimum threshold as a PhD holders or Health and Care workers, or their job was on the Shortage Occupation List or its substitute, the Immigration Salary List.
Reductions of the going rate applicable in the visa application and extension, such as 90% for PhD holders or 80% for STEM PhD, will not apply in applications for indefinite leave to remain.
For example, a Skilled Worker sponsored before 4 April under SOC code 2111 as a chemical scientist with a PhD requirement with a salary £26,000 a year will have to meet the following salary requirements when applying for ILR: the going rate for the job listed in the applicable table for transitional arrangements – i.e. £29,600, which exceeds the general minimum salary threshold of £23,000 applicable to this SOC code.
For a Skilled Worker sponsored in a similar position after 4 April 2024, the applicable going rate under SOC 2020 code will be £35,200, a figure below the general threshold of £38,700 and the general threshold will apply. If PhD is required for this position, the minimum pay can be reduced to £34,830 for the initial application and the extension if necessary(that is 90% of the going rate which is above the minimum threshold of £34,830 for PhD related occupations). For the application for indefinite leave to remain the general threshold of £38,700 will apply. However, if the employment is in Scotland, code 2111 is on the Immigration Salary List for Scotland. This will reduce the general minimum pay requirement for an ILR application to £30,960. The applicable going rate for the job – £35,200 – is higher that the minimum salary threshold and will determine the minimum pay requirement. No reduction to the going rate will be made for the PhD requirement at this stage.
