Dramatic changes to Skilled Worker route

It would be fair to say that there have been over time a lot of changes in the Skilled Worker route and its predecessor route the Tier 2 migrant scheme. Sometimes something changes and then a few years later it changes back again.

If you don’t believe us, look at this. Back in 2020 the Home Office substantially reduced the required skill level for Skilled Worker occupations; it was lowered from Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) level 6 to RQF level 3. Bearing in mind that the Government/Home Office is always talking about reducing immigration this seemed an extraordinary and counterintuitive thing at the time but according to the Home Office this was done “in part to help businesses adapt to the ending of free movement between the UK and EU”. 

Well, be this as it may, evidently the Government’s immigration mood is different now and this has been changed back again, effective from 22 July 2025. So now RQF level 6 is back in force but there are transitional arrangements for those Skilled Workers already in the UK on the basis of the RQF 3 rule.

So those who want to come to the UK as Skilled Workers will now in most and many cases have to meet the RQF level 6 requirement, which presumably will thwart some migrants’ plans. 

But this is not all. You may remember that a few months ago the Home Office changed the rules for care workers’/senior care workers’ dependants. Well, in fact they didn’t just change them, they abolished them: care workers could no longer bring their dependants with them to the UK. 

Now the Home Office has gone somewhat further and abolished the rules for care workers/senior care workers completely. This might look like a typo but it isn’t. The Home Office has decided that we do not need or want foreign care workers any more. This also came into effect on 22 July. 

The Home Office seem to think that by closing these routes they are actually helping care workers by “closing the social care worker visa route to overseas recruitment in response to widespread abuse and exploitation”.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was rather more honest and to the point: “We are delivering a complete reset of our immigration system to restore proper control and order, after the previous government allowed net migration to quadruple in four years.” So this is all about numbers.

So who is going to provide the care that people need? Well, the Home Office say that care homes and care providers must now recruit from the indigenous workforce. But suppose they simply cannot find the staff they need in order to operate? Everybody, including the Home Office, knows that a large proportion of care workers currently come from overseas. Well, this is something where we will have to wait and find out. 

If you have any queries or issues in this area we at GSN Immigration will do our best to advise you. 

Oliver Westmoreland

Senior Immigration Lawyer