Business immigration update: Spring 2025

As we progress through 2025, several significant changes are emerging in the UK's immigration landscape that will impact employers who have plans to recruit overseas workers after 9 April. We outline the notable updates below.

UK immigration fees increase on 9 April 2025

In January 2025, the government announced plans to raise immigration fees, effective from 9am on 9 April 2025. Most visa application fees will increase by around 5 to 10%. Key changes include:

• Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) Fee: Under the Skilled Worker, T2 Minister of Religion, Global Business Mobility – Senior or Specialist Worker, and International Sportsperson routes, the CoS fee will increase by almost 120%, from £239 to £525
• Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) Fee: The ETA fee will rise from £10 to £16
• Sponsor Licence Application Fee: This fee will increase from £1,476 to £1,579 for large sponsors and from £536 to £574 for small sponsors.

Sponsors of Skilled Workers are reminded that the CoS fee, sponsor licence fee, immigration skills charge and any associated administrative costs must not be passed on to a sponsored worker.

Changes to UK Immigration Rules

On 12 March 2025, the government published a Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules. The notable changes are set out below, effective from 9 April 2025:

• Minimum Salary Threshold: For Skilled Workers on discounted rates (including health and care workers or those extending visas under rules for New Entrants, STEM PhDs, or on the Immigrant Salary List), the minimum salary threshold will increase from £23,200 to £25,000 per year
• Salary Deductions: A Skilled Worker's salary must meet the minimum threshold after deductions for relevant payments to the sponsor, including repayments of loans related to immigration costs. However, sponsors should note that restrictions against passing on certain immigration costs (e.g. CoS, Immigration Skills Charge) to sponsored workers remain in place. The Home Office has stated that these changes are being made:
• "For consistency with how paid allowances for the same purposes are treated
• To mitigate against sponsorship costs being passed on to applicants, and
• To close an unintended loophole whereby applicants could effectively pay towards their own salary through investing in their sponsor’s business"
• Recruitment of Care Workers: Care providers in England must first attempt to hire an international worker who is already in the UK and in need of sponsorship prior to recruiting from overseas. Any care provider applying to sponsor an international worker must first evidence that they have tried to hire a displaced care worker already in England. Sponsors will be required to follow Home Office guidance on this, including using the government’s regional support networks to access the pool of skilled care workers already in the UK. This could increase the time it will take to recruit migrant Care Workers, and so employers looking to fill vacancies with overseas Care Workers will need to factor this new requirement in to their recruitment timescales.

Extension of Right to Work checks to gig economy employers

One of the major changes being introduced is that employers who recruit gig workers will be legally required to carry out right to work checks. Organisations will need to confirm that any gig economy worker they engage is eligible to work in the UK. It has not yet been confirmed when this change will be implemented.

There is also, at present, no legal definition of "gig economy" and so the scope and extent of these changes remains to be seen (when the guidance is published). However, the scale of organisations affected by this change is likely to be wide, with the Home Office providing examples of sectors such as construction, couriers, food delivery and beauty salons. The consequences for right to work non-compliance include fines of up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first offence, and up to £60,000 per illegal worker for repeat breaches. Other consequences include possible business closures, director disqualifications and, if a criminal offence has taken place, potential prison sentences of up to five years. This represents a significant change for those sectors impacted and adds another layer of complexity to what is already a complicated area in employment law. Employment status is a tricky area and within the gig economy in particular, the distinction between employees, workers and self employed contractors can be unclear. This, coupled with these impending changes, will leave employers within the gig economy even more uncertainty over their legal obligations and increase their administrative burden.

Surge in immigration enforcement

On 31 March 2025, the Prime Minister announced that the government has returned more than 24,000 individuals with no right to be in the UK since the General Election – the highest returns rate for eight years.

On 1 April 2025, the Home Office published an independent survey it commissioned to review employer awareness of right to work checks. Of the employers surveyed, 80% answered at least one of the compliance questions incorrectly and were therefore at risk of non-compliance.

Taking these increased enforcement statistics into account and the wider potential for civil and criminal penalties and enforcement action it has never been more important that employers ensure right to work checks are carried out correctly and ensure proper processes are in place.

Employers should take action now to remain compliant with their right to work obligations by:

• Reviewing your right to work checking procedures and policies
• Conducting internal audits of your workforce
• Ensure staff who are responsible for recruitment and onboarding checks receive regular and up to date training.

Our team of specialist corporate immigration lawyers can assist with all of these things and can guide you through this ever changing legal landscape. If you would like to discuss how we can help with these, or any of the changes in this article, please do get in touch with Katie and Paige.