This May 2025 white paper from the UK government outlines a comprehensive reform of the UK immigration system. The document presents the Labour government's plan to reduce net migration, which reached record levels of 906,000 in June 2023 (four times higher than 2019 levels), while ensuring the system supports economic growth and integration.

Core principles

The white paper is built around seven fundamental principles:

1. Reducing net migration to sustainable levels.
2. Linking immigration to UK skills development to prevent over-reliance on foreign workers.
3. Creating fair and effective rules with clearer parliamentary oversight.
4. Enforcing immigration rules more effectively.
5. Creating fair and effective rules with clearer parliamentary oversight.
6. Enforcing immigration rules more effectively.
7. Supporting integration and community cohesion.

Key reforms

Skilled work-related immigration

• Skill level for skilled workers to be lifted from RQF 3 up to RQF 6 and above. Salary thresholds will therefore rise.
• Immigration Skills Charge to be increased by 32%, for the first time since its introduction in 2017, in line with inflation – raising the annual cost from £1,000 to £1,320.
• English language requirement for skilled workers to increase from B1 to B2 (Independent User) levels, in accordance with the Common European Framework for Reference for Languages (CEFR).
• A Temporary Shortage List to provide time-limited access to the points-based immigration system will be established for occupations below RQF 6. In the interim, the list will be determined by occupations the MAC have already deemed to be in shortage.
• A Labour Market Evidence Group will be established to make informed decisions about the state of the labour market and the role that different policies should play, rather than always relying on migration.
• For occupations below RQF 6, workforce strategies for key sectors will be required by employers where there are high levels of overseas recruitment. Access to the points-based immigration system will be limited to occupations where there have been long-term shortages, on a time-limited basis, where the MAC has advised it is justified, where there is a workforce strategy in place, and where employers seeking to recruit from abroad are committed to playing their part in increasing recruitment from the domestic workforce.
• Employers should be incentivised to invest in boosting domestic talent and options to restrict employers from sponsoring skilled visas will be introduced if they are not committed to increasing skills training.
• Eligible institutions for the High Potential Individual Visa will be expanded and reforms will be made to the Global Talent and Innovator Founder routes to boost applications and increase overseas talent coming to the UK under these existing routes.

Other work-related routes

• Social care visas for new applications from abroad will be closed. For a transition period until 2028, visa extensions and in-country switching for those already in the country will be permitted but kept under review.
• UNHCR recognised refugees and displaced people will be able to apply for employment through our existing skilled worker routes, where they have the skills to do so.

Student immigration

• Strengthen the requirements that all sponsoring institutions must meet in order to recruit international students.
• Raise the minimum pass requirement of each Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA) metric by five percentage points, so that – for example – a sponsor must maintain a course enrolment rate of at least 95% and a course completion rate of 90% in order to pass the compliance threshold.
• Implement a new Red-Amber-Green banding system to rate the BCA performance of each sponsor, so that it is clear to them, the authorities and the public which institutions are achieving a high rate of compliance, and which are at risk of failing.
• Introduce new interventions for sponsors who are close to failing their metrics, including placing them on a bespoke action plan designed to improve their compliance, and imposing limits on the number of new international students they can recruit while they are subject to those plans.
• Require all sponsors wishing to use recruitment agents for overseas students to sign up for the Agent Quality Framework, designed to maintain the highest standards of agent management, and ensure that institutions cannot simply outsource their responsibility to ensure that the individuals whose visas they are sponsoring are genuinely coming to the UK to study.
• Ensure there are arrangements, for future international student recruitment, for sponsoring institutions to demonstrate that they are considering local impacts when making their decisions on international recruitment.
• Conduct a review of the Short-Term Study accreditation bodies to ensure that their processes are robust and consider what further checks need to be put in place to ensure the right level of scrutiny is being applied both before an organisation is accredited, and when that accreditation is renewed.
• Reduce the ability for graduates to remain in the UK after their studies to a period of 18 months.
• Explore the introduction of a levy on higher education providers' income from international students to be reinvested into skills.

Family / dependant migration

• Reforming family migration rules to create a clearer framework and strengthening financial requirements across dependent routes. A new family policy is expected before the end of 2025 on this.
• Ensuring those coming to the UK have appropriate English language skills. Those applying as family members of British nationals already need to show English language proficiency. A new requirement for dependants of point-based system migrants (students and workers) to demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the English language will also be introduced (Level A1 (Basic User) to increase over time).

Reforming settlement and citizenship rules through an expanded points-based system

• Expanding the points-based system and increasing the standard qualifying period for settlement from five to ten years.
• Individuals will have the opportunity to reduce the qualifying period to settlement and citizenship based on "contributions to the UK economy and society".
• A shorter pathway to settlement for non-UK dependants of British citizens to five years will be retained, including existing safeguards to protect the vulnerable, including settlement rights for victims of domestic violence and abuse.
• Creating pathways for vulnerable groups, including bereaved parents and children.
• The Life in the UK test and how it operates will be reformed.
• New measures to reduce the financial barriers to young adults, who have lived here through their childhood, from accessing British nationality will be considered.

Enforcement and rule compliance

• Tightening border controls and visa rules.
• Continue to roll out eVisas to all those subject to immigration control.
• Simplifying processes for removing foreign national offenders.
• Tackling illegal working through enhanced enforcement.

Conclusion

The white paper represents a significant shift in UK immigration policy, aiming to reduce net migration while maintaining the UK's ability to attract highly skilled individuals. Since Brexit and the introduction of the new immigration system in 2020, net migration has soared, with much larger numbers of lower-skilled migrants arriving in the UK. This was in part due to the lowering of the skills threshold from RQF level 6 (degree level) to RQF level 3 (A-level). This new policy reinstates the pre-Brexit position and minimum salary thresholds will naturally increase as higher skilled roles demand a higher "going rate".

There will be no return to the "shortage occupation list" which saw many roles in high-growth sectors, such as AI, engineering and technology barred from preferential treatment and lower costs. Whilst a Temporary Shortage List will be introduced, in the interim this will be determined by roles already deemed by the MAC to be in shortage. Following their review of the shortage occupation list last year, only very limited occupations remained on the repurposed "immigration salary list", so this is unlikely to be of help to employers operating in these sectors moving forward.

The UK may also become a less attractive destination given the qualifying period for points-based system migrants to apply for settlement will increase from 5 years to 10 years. This puts the UK significantly out of sync with many other developed countries. It would also significantly increase sponsorship costs for employers as new workers could be required to be sponsored for twice as long before they are free of immigration control (and costs). It is presently unclear how some migrant workers could "have the opportunity to reduce the qualifying period based on contributions to the UK economy and society". This could be based on salary and prior considerations of "high earner" thresholds within the points-based system.

It will be a relief for many employers and students that the graduate visa has not been scrapped entirely but limited to 18 months (instead of the present two years). The reality is that, based on present data, so much as two-thirds of overseas students on graduate visas may no longer qualify for a skilled worker visa following these new proposals.

It is going to be more expensive to recruit into graduate level occupations and far more difficult to recruit at below graduate level. Whilst the full impact of these changes will not be felt until the policies are fully implemented and new legislation introduced, some of the immediate proposals will be significant – especially within the care sector. Employers should continue to remain up to date as the proposals within the white paper are implemented and consider how any changes may impact their recruitment of overseas talent, including restrictions to sponsorship and increased costs.