UK tightens work visas but makes room for lower-skilled office roles for now
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The United Kingdom has overhauled its work visa policy, aiming to tighten access by limiting skilled-worker visas to graduate-level jobs and raising salary thresholds. However, the rules will initially be more liberal than they appear. A 'temporary shortage list' of non-graduate occupations will allow employers to recruit foreign workers for select lower-skilled office roles until the end of 2026, though these migrants will not be allowed to bring family members, Financial Times reports. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the move as a 'complete reset' of the system, stating it would 'restore proper control and order' and shift focus to 'higher skills, lower number and tighter controls.'While the new framework raises salary thresholds in line with domestic wage growth and disqualifies 111 previously eligible roles from visa access, the transitional list includes various positions across industrial and creative sectors. These include lab technicians, welders, architectural technicians, steel erectors, and industrial climbers: all linked to the UK 's long-term industrial strategy, which targets growth in eight priority sectors.Creative sector employers will also benefit, as the list permits hiring of non-UK writers, dancers, photographers, make-up artists, set designers, and box office staff. Additionally, roles such as IT help desk technicians, bookkeepers, mortgage administrators, HR officers, marketing associates, and sales personnel are eligible, despite being lower-skilled.The temporary visa provisions exclude dependents and will not offer any fee or salary concessions. Post-2026, each sector must have a workforce training plan in place to retain overseas hiring access, though ministers have not yet outlined how this process will function.According to the Financial Times report, Brian Bell, Chair of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), said the rapid implementation was aimed at preventing a hiring surge ahead of the restrictions. 'Hospitality employers, who have often used the visa system to hire chefs, would be most affected by the new curbs,' he added.Bell also noted that MAC would assess each role's relevance to the government's industrial strategy and domestic hiring feasibility. Roles will remain on the new list only if paired with a concrete workforce development plan.
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