Immigration Changes Spring 2026

Changes to the Immigration Rules

The Home Secretary has announced a raft of changes to the UK immigration system aimed at delivering commitments outlined in the Immigration White Paper.

The measures are intended to “strengthen the UK’s ability to manage migration firmly and fairly, reduce abuse… and modernise the border to support a smoother and more secure experience.”

We discuss the main areas below.

Change to English language requirements

From 26 March 2027, the English language requirement for settlement will increase from level B1 to B2 across a most immigration routes. Aimed at supporting integration in the UK, this change increases the English language requirement for settlement to B2 level assessed against the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages for:

- Skilled Workers
- Tier 2 Ministers of Religion
- Long Residence applicants
- Bereaved Partners
- Private Life Applicants on the 10 year Family Life route
- Representatives of an Overseas Business
- UK Ancestry visa holders
- Global Talent visa holders
- Scale Up workers
- Innovator Founders
- International Sportspeople
- Child Relative (Sponsors with Protection)

Skilled Worker pay periods

Sponsors must now pay Skilled Workers the full required salary in every pay period, i.e. monthly or weekly depending on how paid, subject to variations already permitted in the Rules. This will enable the Home Office to identify and address underpayment without the need to wait for the end of the salary year where there are concerns about underpayment. Aimed at protecting worker welfare, the Home Office will contact employers apparently underpaying and ask for a prompt explanation, correction, or to take compliance action.

Global Business Mobility – Secondment Worker: reducing qualifying overseas employment period from 12 to 6 months

The Global Business Mobility Secondment Worker route enables overseas employers who have a high-value contract or investment with a UK organisation, worth at least £50 million, to temporarily send their workers to the UK. Applicants must previously have worked for their overseas employer for at least 12 months. This is now being reduced to six months to "provide greater flexibility for businesses and attract more high-value contracts to the UK".

Changes to the Global Talent visa category

A new design pathway is being introduced to the Global Talent visa enabling exceptionally talented and promising design professionals to apply under this category for a visa to work in the UK.

The visa is being simplified for academic and research appointments, with clearer criteria agreed with the National Academies who act as endorsing bodies for this pathway. PhD level roles requiring academic, research or innovation leadership, or where research or innovation is a the main purpose of the role, at an agreed research organisation will qualify for a fast-track option.

Changes to EUSS and Family Permits

The Home Office will introduce changes aimed at tackling abuse by EEA citizens sponsoring EUSS applications by individuals falsely claiming to be eligible family members. New suitability requirements will be introduced aligned to existing curtailment provisions, which will enable an application to be refused where it is more likely than not that an EEA citizen has assisted another person fraudulently to obtain, or to attempt to obtain, entry clearance to, or leave to enter or remain in, the UK.

Non-EEA national applicants will be able to use an expired biometric residence card as proof of their identity and nationality where it has expired by up to 60 (previously 18) months. This will enable non EEA nationals to apply via the app rather than by attending a UKVCAS biometric appointment.

Changes will be introduced to require applicants to provide evidence which shows that the family relationship to the EEA national is legitimate, e.g. a marriage or birth certificate.

Change to the criminality provisions in "Suitability"

In a significant change from current practice, the Rules will be changed so that people convicted in the UK who receive a suspended sentence of 12 months or more will face mandatory refusal of their visa application, or cancellation of their existing right to enter or stay in the UK. The purported aim is to "[strengthen] public protection and [ensure] a consistent approach to foreign national offending."

The Immigration Rules presently provide for the mandatory refusal or cancellation of leave where an individual subject to immigration control receives a custodial sentence of 12 months for offences committed in the UK or overseas. There are also mandatory grounds for refusal or cancellation of leave for persistent offenders and offenders who cause serious harm.

Applicants apply for entry as a visitor will be refused if they have committed a criminal offence in the previous 12 months.

New countries added to the Visa National list for Visit Visas and eVisas for Visitors

The Home Office will introduce a visit visa requirement for nationals of Nicaragua and St Lucia, which means that nationals of those countries will need to obtain apply for a visit visa and will be unable to use ETA option.

Applicants for a Visitor Visa will now receive an eVisa only instead of a stamp/vignette in their passport. Existing UK visit visa holders should create a UKVI account. An extant physical visa vignette or wet ink stamp can still be relied upon, but if you have changed your passport, both passports must be carried and presented to the carrier at check in otherwise you could be refused boarding.

Right of abode

Certificates of Entitlement will now be issued in digital format, i.e. as an eVisa. The benefit of this is that applicants must only apply for a certificate once. Individuals who presently have a physical vignette in their passport will also be issued a digital CoE and notified where possible.