Comment: What employers need to know about new immigration rules

Engineering came in for special mention in the Prime Minister’s Foreword to the long-awaited Immigration White Paper, with the number of new engineering apprenticeships in England falling and the number of engineering work visas increasing during the last three years.

What changes do employers need to prepare for?

There are scant details on timings in the White Paper. These changes are all promised within this parliament (up to 2029), some “within weeks”.

Only occupations classified as sufficiently skilled or in designated temporary shortage will be eligible for sponsorship of overseas workers. The new skill level requirement for Skilled Worker visas will be jobs classified as RQF (Regulated Qualifications Framework) Level 6 or above - jobs skilled at degree level or equivalent, or above.

The Immigration Skills Charge (currently £1,000 per worker per year of sponsorship for medium and large businesses, £364 per year for small businesses) is to increase by 32 per cent.  Minimum salary thresholds to sponsor overseas workers will also increase.

The standard qualifying period for settlement will be increased from five to 10 years, with the option to reduce the qualifying period for settlement back to five years based on ‘points-based contributions to the UK economy and society’.  The government will conduct a consultation on this later in 2025.

Finally, the government intends to make the Global Talent visa route ‘simpler and easier’ to use.  But while The Royal Academy of Engineering endorses applicants in this route, the White Paper focusses on those in academia, primarily active researchers with PhD or equivalent research experience.

How will this affect the engineering sector?

Occupation codes are classified based on skill level and type of work performed by the Office for National Statistics for immigration and labour market analysis. We have calculated 171 occupations would no longer qualify as skilled enough for the Skilled Worker visa. These include dozens of construction and related jobs. Fortunately, engineering roles are mainly classified at RQF6 or higher: the main occupations (Civil engineers, Mechanical engineers, Electrical engineers, Electronics engineers, Production and process engineers, Aerospace engineers, Engineering project managers and project engineers, and Engineering professionals not elsewhere classified) all being sufficiently skilled. These roles currently account for approximately 2,300 work visas offered to overseas workers per year (pro rata based on Q3/Q4 of 2024).  Some engineering-relevant roles are set to be cut as insufficiently skilled: for example, Science, Engineering and Production Technicians, currently accounting for around 800 work visas annually, fall below RQF6.

Even where a role is RQF6 and above, the White Paper insists a workforce strategy requirement will be imposed upon sectors that have traditionally had high levels of recruitment from abroad. Engineering professionals have seen higher levels of overseas recruitment than many other professions: only IT, finance and business, research and administrative professionals account for more.  Where imposed, a workforce strategy will specify steps employers must take on skills, training and engagement of economically inactive domestic workforce before offering work sponsorship.

In the short to medium term, costs of sponsorship (higher Immigration Skills Charge and minimum salary thresholds) will increase, and these costs may need to be borne for longer if Skilled Workers require sponsorship for ten years rather than five before settlement.

What can employers do?

Engineering employers who rely on sponsorship of overseas workers (whether recruiting directly from abroad or hiring local talent including international graduates of UK universities) will need to review existing recruitment policies.

In short-term assignments, it should be considered whether work permits are genuinely required or service supplier arrangements may suffice.  At present, employees of an overseas supplier to a UK organisation may send their employees to the UK in order to install, dismantle, repair, service or advise on hardware or computer software (or train British workers to provide these services).  The overseas employer must be the supplier, or part of a contractual arrangement for agreed after-sales service.

If sponsorship is needed, employers will need to budget for increased direct costs of the process and higher salary thresholds.

Employers should seek to reassure, where possible, current migrant workers. Those already here as Skilled Workers on RQF3-5 level skilled jobs will be able to renew their visa, switch into other jobs as Skilled Workers and take supplementary employment including in occupations below RQF6. This will continue even when sponsors may no longer sponsor new workers below RQF6.

It may be a while before we can reassure migrant staff already here about whether they too face a longer ten- year route to settlement. Ministers have only so far confirmed that people on partner visas of British citizens will not be affected by the change. According to the EU Withdrawal Agreement, staff on EU Settlement Schemes should still have the right to permanent residence after five years.

Finally, employers should contribute to government engagement with the sector over ‘workforce strategies’ that may in future require support for domestic training and recruitment.

Alexander Finch is a senior associate at Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law