UKVI visa, ATAS processing and RTW Check updates

Autumn 2025 Immigration statement of changes (various effective dates)

Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) increase - Skilled work route
Though not included in the Statement of Changes, there has been confirmation from the Home Office that the ISC will rise by 32% from 16 December 2025. It is estimated that ISC fees will be amended as follows:

The ISC only applies to specific occupations, and where the applicant is not switching from student visa route, so we do not pay this fee in all Skilled work visa cases. 

English language requirements for skilled routes
From 8 January 2026, the minimum English requirement for Skilled Worker, High Potential Individual and Scale-up routes will rise from B1 to B2 on CEFR scale.

Employers sponsoring skilled migrants will need to ensure candidates meet the higher threshold. Individual migrants may need to obtain new English language evidence, such as a new English language test, if applying in 2026.

Applicants who are already in the UK under one of these routes and are extending their immigration permission in the same route will remain subject to the B1 level English requirement.

Graduate route period reduction for new applications from 2027
Non-PhD graduates will be granted a reduced period of leave of 18 months, down from two years, if they apply under the Graduate route on or after 1 January 2027. PhD graduates will continue to benefit from a three-year period of leave.

This change, effective from 11 November 2025 under the Immigration Rules, will only impact applications submitted on or after 1 January 2027.

Skilled Worker Route (SWR) -  key changes from 22 July 2025

Following the publication of the Government’s Immigration White Paper (May 2025), the Home Office announced significant changes to the Skilled Worker Route (SWR) visa category from 22 July 2025.

Please find a summary of the key changes and potential implications below.

Increase in skill level

• To be eligible for Skilled Worker Route (SWR) sponsorship the skill level for the job must meet a minimum skill threshold, determined by the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code rather than the qualifications held by the applicant.
• The minimum skill level increased from RQF level 3 (A level) to RQF level 6 (degree level), reversing the 2020 change that lowered the level. This means that approx. 180 occupations at RQF levels 3-5 will no longer be eligible for sponsorship.
• This change will not affect current SWR visa holders, including those who apply using a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) assigned before 22 July 2025, or roles that appear on the current Immigration Salary List or the new Temporary Shortage List (see below).
• These transitional measures will not be in place indefinitely and will be reviewed in due course. 

Increase in salary levels

• To be eligible for the Skilled Worker Route (SWR) salaries must meet the General Salary Threshold (GST), and the occupation specific Going Rate Threshold (GRT), determined by the relevant Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code for the role, whichever is higher. The GST must be met in full however the GRT may be pro-rated based on working hours.
• Both GSTs and GRTs will rise in line with 2024 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) data.
• These changes will apply to anyone making a new SWR visa application or applying to extend an existing SWR visa from 22 July 2025. Immigration Salary List (ISL) and Temporary Shortage List (TSL)

• The current Immigration Salary List (ISL), containing shortage occupations which benefit from discounted salaries, will be replaced by a new Temporary Shortage List (TSL) controlling access for roles below RQF level 6 following a MAC review in spring 2026.
• In the meantime, RQF level 3-5 roles on either the expanded ISL or interim TSL will qualify for sponsorship up until 31 December 2026.
• However those making a new SWR application for an ISL/TSL role will not be allowed to bring dependants, except for children born in the UK or where they have sole parental responsibility. This does not apply to RQF level 6 occupations, or SWR visa holders already sponsored in RQF levels 3 – 5 occupations before 22 July 2025.

The Staff Compliance Team (SCT) has conducted a review of the potential implications for staff and roles likely to be affected by the revised skill level and salary thresholds.

Current staff

• A review of staff currently sponsored on SWR visas shows that:
• Increased skills level – all either meet RQF 6 or will be covered by the RQF 3-5 transitional arrangements
• Increased salary level – all meet the salary requirements for their current period of leave.
• However, as there are no transitional arrangements covering salary level changes, some will require closer scrutiny to ensure they meet the relevant minimum salary thresholds at the point that a visa extension is needed. 

Recruitment

• A review of roles likely to be affected by the revised skill level and salary thresholds indicates that:
• There will be little impact on Academic and Research roles and a limited impact on Learning & Teaching and Professional roles at RQF level 6.
• The main impact will be on Professional, Technical & Operational roles at RQF levels 3-5, particularly those at the lower end of the salary scale, and part-time staff.
• Since the minimum skill level was reduced to RQF level 3 in 2020, the SWR has provided considerable flexibility which has allowed us to sponsor most Professional, Technical & Operational roles over the past few years. Unfortunately these changes will greatly reduce this flexibility.
• Whilst we encourage you to continue to recruit the best candidate for the job, please be aware that these changes may affect our ability to hire some potential candidates and we would therefore advise you not to reject any suitable reserve candidates until the SCT has confirmed a suitable visa route for the preferred candidate. Where the selected candidate could need visa support, it would be advisable to tell interviewed candidates a decision-notification timescale that factors this assessment in.
• We will also continue to encourage use of and review eligibility for Global Talent Visas (GTV), which is Imperial's preferred visa route for Academic and Research roles and recommend that eligible individuals apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (settlement) to keep SWR sponsorship to a minimum.

Please review our full guidance on the Recruiters Guidance for Skilled worker visa route: Skilled Worker sponsorship: Recruiters' guidance | Administration and support services | Imperial College London  

Immigration White Paper – additional proposal – to be confirmed

The White Paper proposes further work-related immigration policy changes including:

• Increasing the qualifying period for settlement (Indefinite leave to remain) from 5 to 10 years. Some exemptions will remain and expedited paths to settlement are likely to be available. A consultation is expected later this year therefore there will be no immediate changes.
• Increasing numbers coming to the UK in the very highly skilled and talent routes by expanding the Global Talent route, reviewing the Innovator Founder category and exploring a targeted and capped expansion of the High Potential Individual (HPI) route, looking to double the number of qualifying institutions.

Autumn 2025 Immigration statement of changes (various effective dates)

New 'Part Suitability'
Refusal and cancellation grounds, including criminality, deception, public good and security, will be consolidated into a new section of the Immigration Rules entitled Part Suitability. Clarifications on overstaying and the definition of 'permission' may affect eligibility assessments. These changes will apply across immigration routes from 11 November 2025. 

High Potential Individual route expansion

The route will include a broader range of institutions and is capped at 8,000 applications annually. The updated eligible university list should be published on 1 November 2025, and the change will be implemented on 4 November 2025.   

Switching from Student to Innovator Founder route
From 25 November 2025, to encourage entrepreneurial international students at UK universities to set up new businesses in the UK, Student route work conditions will allow Student visa holders to establish and work for their own business, provided they have completed their course and are switching to the Innovator Founder route.     

Skilled Worker Route minimum salary – visa salary advance loan repayment rule change

• Where a current or prospective employee who holds or requires a Skilled Worker Route (SWR) visa, based on a Certificate of Sponsorship issued on or after 9 April 2025, needs a UK visa salary advance loan, the loan repayments must now be subtracted from the individual’s salary before calculating whether the salary meets the minimum SWR requirements.
• Therefore, as part of the salary advance loan approval process, the Staff Compliance Team will now review whether the salary with the visa loan repayments deduction will meet the required minimum thresholds and will advise accordingly.
• Please refer to the process outlined on the Salary Advance Form - UK Immigration Application Fees. This form is currently being reviewed and will soon be updated in line with the above rule change.
• Additionally, the Staff Compliance Team is reviewing its processes to ensure the team provide relevant information and guidance once it is identified that a SWR visa is required. The team will aim to make the permissible loan sum and repayment period clear as early as possible in the onboarding process to avoid unsuitable or rejected loan requests.   

Right to work (RTW) check evidence change – UK/British Passports

Please note that a ‘clipped’ cancelled British/UK Passport is no longer accepted as right to work evidence.

An expired British/UK Passport is still accepted, if the corner has not been clipped. The removed corner indicates that a new renewed passport has been issued by UK Passport Office, and should be held by the individual, and therefore used as their evidence of RTW.

In the cases where a ‘clipped’ passport is provided, and the individual confirms they have had their new passport stolen, or is lost – in these instances if they are awaiting a new passport – we can accept other List A documentation e.g. a UK Birth / naturalisation certificate along with evidence of their permanent National Insurance number.

From April 2025, all visitors who do not need a visa, except British and Irish citizens, need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) – a digital permission to travel to the UK.

Visitors apply for an ETA through a quick and simple process using the UK ETA app.

An ETA costs £16 and permits multiple journeys to the UK of up to six months at a time over two years or until the holder’s passport expires – whichever is sooner.

ETA applies to:

• visits of up to 6 months for tourism, visiting family and friends, business, or short-term study
• visits of up to 3 months on the Creative Worker visa concession  Creative Worker visa concession
• visits for a permitted paid engagement  permitted paid engagement
• transiting through the UK – including if you’re not going through UK border control

Further information and how to apply:   www.gov.uk/electronic-travel-authorisation

Where a visitor is coming to UK with ETA to undertake visiting research that is not exempt from the ATAS requirement (either through exempt nationality, or the research not being in field, level that requires ATAS), they would continue to need an ATAS certificate in place before starting any research at Imperial, in line with individuals who need to obtain a standard visit visa.

The Staff Compliance Team sent out communications to departments and to relevant Imperial employees potentially impacted by these changes in September 2024, and have published online information and instructions on the steps that should be taken by individuals to ensure that they can continue to evidence their UK Immigration status, and for travel in and out the UK without issues at the border.

UKVI have published online guidance with some key information about what holders of BRP cards that expired at the end of 2024 should do, and guidance for individuals who hold other types of legacy documents.

Passengers whose immigration permission is still valid but whose BRP/EUSS BRC expired on or after 31 December are advised to continue to carry their expired BRP/ EUSS BRC with them when they travel until 01 June 2025. This transitional measure is intended to provide additional reassurance to travellers during the early phase of this transition. Passengers may also wish to create a View and Prove share code in advance of travel, which is valid for 90 days. UK Border Force will continue to check all passengers through existing border processes to ensure they still have valid immigration permission.

BRP cards are no longer issued since 31 October 2024, and individuals are instead given instructions on how to create UKVI account and attach their eVisa status to evidence their rights.

From 15 July 2025, main applicants for the following visas will only get an eVisa (no 90-day vignette in their passport):

• Students (including short-term up to 11 months)
• Global Business Mobility
• Global Talent
• International Sportspersons
• Skilled Workers (including Health and Care)
• Temporary Workers (This includes GAE sponsored Researchers)
• Youth Mobility Scheme

Dependants and children will still get both a vignette (sticker) and an eVisa.

Further information: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/making-sure-your-evisa-is-correct-before-you-travel  

As there will be no more BRP cards for UK National Insurance numbers to be automatically issued and confirmed on, this change does mean that individuals are likely to need to submit their own application for an NI number once they arrive in the UK.  

Applicants awaiting in-UK visa decision

Where an individual is applying to extend or switch visa from inside the UK, the UKVI rules confirm that the applicant should not travel until the visa decision has been confirmed and new leave to remain granted. Employees/new hires should not leave the UK during the period that they are awaiting decision on their application, otherwise this will lead to automatic cancellation of the visa application which would impact on the individuals’ rights to live and work in the UK.

Although the immigration rules state that the pending visa application will be cancelled if the applicant leaves the UK or common travel area (Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man), the ‘3C Leave’ status rules confirm that ‘3C Leave’ ends if the applicant leaves the UK during the period their application is live. Where an individual needs 3C Leave to be able to continue legally working, leaving the UK would mean that Imperial would have no choice but to suspend/end employment until the individual is able to evidence their new visa status, once granted.

Therefore, we strongly advise against any international travel during this period, and if an employee needs guidance on timing of submitting their application around any existing travel commitments, they should contact the Staff Immigration & Compliance Team

Global Talent Visa – UKRI endorsed funder route eligibility requirements

UK Research & Innovation Global Talent Visa teams have confirmed that:

• The earliest that a GTV endorsement application can be submitted is:
• 6-months before the start date of the position/move to the UK (endorsement is valid for 3 months, and the earliest a valid GTV stage 2 application can be submitted is 3 months before UK arrival date); and
• No earlier than 6-months before the researcher is funded from the eligible award (e.g. where a research role may have more than one funding source).
• When assessing whether the UKRI endorsement criteria of ‘that at least 50% of the applicant’s time will be spent working on the eligible grant or award by the endorsed funder’ – it has been confirmed that this can include individuals who are have a part-time contract.
• However, we must still be able to demonstrate that they are truly providing ‘critical contributions’ to research.
• g. If a researcher was employed at 0.8 fte, and funded 50% of their time on one award, 50% on another – this would likely be acceptable at 0.4 fte of their time providing critical research contributions on the eligible award. However, if they have a lower fte contract / on the eligible award, then we may need to assess whether / explain in more detail to UKRI how their contributions are ‘critical’ to the research project.

Global Talent Visa extensions – timing of application submission

When applying to extend a GTV, please be aware that UKVI will always grant the number of years visa applied for – from the date of the visa caseworker decision – not adding the year to the existing visa expiry date. Please be mindful of this when making decision on when to submit the visa application before the current visa expiry date, in many cases it is best to apply just before the visa expiry, to avoid any shortfall of total period granted to cover employment period, or to reach settlement visa eligibility point.

The Staff Compliance Team has participated in a pilot of a new SponsorUK system and started using this system from 14 May for the Government Authorised Exchange route (for Sponsored Researchers) only.

• The team used the new sponsorship system to manage all current and prospective Sponsored Researchers and provided feedback on the new system to UK Visas & Immigration.

• The Skilled Worker Route was not currently included in the pilot and will be unaffected by this change.

UKVI have advised on 28 October that the pilot will end in November, and the move to this new system will not go ahead. We will be moved back onto the sponsor management system (SMS) that we also use for our Skilled Worker route licence in the week commencing 03 November, and are not expecting any significant disruption or ability to assign sponsorship as needed for hosted researchers.  

Skilled worker route defined certificate of sponsorship applications:
Defined COS for overseas Skilled worker route applications can take up to 2 weeks to be granted by UKVI for the Staff Compliance Team is issue. Please review below information with this in mind.

Global talent visa endorsement (stage 1) applications:

• For accelerated endorsement routes – most endorsement applications are being decided within 3-4 weeks
• For standard peer review endorsement route – most endorsement applications are being decided within 5-8 weeks

In-country visa applications:
UKVI are currently working to their usual standard of 8 weeks for visa application decision from the point that an in-time application is submitted, all fees and surcharges paid, and applicants biometrics provided.

There may be priority (£500 additional for 1 week decision), or super priority (£1000 additional for 1-2 working day decision) options available, where required. These fees must be paid at time of visa application submission and cannot be added separately later.

• For extension/switching applications – individuals are unable to leave the UK and common travel area until their new visa is granted and checked, and applicants/departments may decide to pay for priority processing.
• For changes of employment from another sponsor, please consider the above processing times when setting start dates. Candidates may wish to extend their current role/notice period to avoid the situation where they are unable to start employment with Imperial and have left their former employer / sponsor and are not eligible for UK public funds/benefits in the interim. Applicants/departments may decide to use discretion to reimburse applicant for priority processing.
• Please be aware that applications for Indefinite leave to remain (settlement) have a 6-month standard processing service standard rather than the 8 weeks above. Applicants may decide to pay for priority processing.

Out-of-country visa applications:
Please review the UKVI guidance on how quickly you will receive a decision on your UK visa application if you are applying from outside the UK. Most overseas applications are expected to be a 3-week standard decision from point application fees are paid and biometric information provided.

Overseas priority application options are subject to availability, and dependent on the country of application but operate with the same priority/super-priority timescales where available.

Academic & Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS)

ATAS application processing for employees / sponsored researchers / visitors – FCDO advise that from 6 weeks is the standard processing time. However, we see most applications processed within 6-16 weeks.

We see delays regularly and some cases have taken from 3-6 months. Please be aware that this will impact potential work start dates, particularly for new hires who require ATAS before they can apply for a UK visa.  

Unfortunately, there is no way of expediting ATAS applications. Where the ATAS application for an employee / sponsored researcher / visiting researcher or academic has taken over 12 weeks please email the Staff Immigration & Compliance Manager and we will flag this delay to FCDO as feedback on their processing times and to check the application is still progressing. Applicants can login to their ATAS application portal and see that their application is still showing as ‘live’.

Please be aware that there is a known technical issue with @gmail.com accounts – and the applicant not receiving the ATAS decision outcome. The employer/hosting organisation (i.e. Imperial) will still receive the outcome, and communicate this via the Staff Compliance Team to the department and applicant.

Where it becomes clear that ATAS is not legally required (e.g. individual changes route and applies for Global Talent Visa or other route that does not have ATAS work requirement) it is possible to withdraw the ATAS application, if no longer needed for visa application or to commence research work.

For delayed ATAS applications for current or prospective Imperial College London students please continue to liaise with the relevant College student admissions / international student support team. The Staff Compliance Team is unable to assist with student or admissions ATAS queries

Please see the timescale estimates guidance for where a new hire needs to apply for and obtain a Skilled Worker or Global Talent visa to work in the UK.

Please see the Human Resources service level agreements webpage for general SLA’s and performance in operational teams.

Right to work checks

Where the Staff Compliance Team is copied into conditional employment contracts to undertake a right to work check for individuals who hold a suitable time-limited UK visa status, the team is generally able to complete these right to work checks within 3 full working days of the date the conditional contract is issued. Whether the check can be fully completed will depend on the new-hire prospective employee providing the necessary evidence promptly, and their availability to meet and complete the check.

The Staff Compliance Team will send a ‘contract RTW conditions met’ email to the new employee cc’ing departmental contact / line manager and Recruitment/Staff Hub, once the check is completed and individual is cleared to start work.

If any other pre-employment checks are needed before work can start the Recruitment/Staff Hub will confirm where right to work check is not the final pre-employment check/condition.

Providing advice to People Function (HR) Hub teams and hiring departments

Where the Staff Compliance Team is requested by Recruitment Hub or Staff Hub to review the UK visa documents / eligibility for UK work-route visa, in most cases the team can meet our processing aim of providing an initial response/advice within 5 working days of the request from the Recruitment/Staff Hub, cc’ing the key departmental contact in our response.

• Where there are multiple possible route options (e.g. Global Talent, Skilled work & Health and Care visa) the assessment may take longer.
• Due to the significant Skilled Worker Visa route rule changes on eligible occupations and salary requirements from 22 July 2025, some assessments may take longer than usual to ensure that eligibility checks are accurate.

*The initial response may ask for further information/evidence from the prospective employee and/or hiring department to make a full assessment of eligibility for our preferred employment visa routes.

Virtual Credit Cards for visa sponsorship

The Virtual Credit Card team have recently communicated the following change:

• VCC’s are now only valid for a maximum of 12 months.  You will see the valid for field automatically entered as 12 months and a new field labelled End date, which should be completed. The VCC team have asked that a 2-month expiry date is set unless a standing order.
• However, as a further exception to this rule, please would departments ensure that a 6-month expiry date is set for any VCC’s raised for Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS). As a VCC is often raised a long time before the Staff Compliance Team can assign the CoS (e.g. where ATAS application is delayed), it is important to ensure that the VCC remains valid for use once the team is able to assign the CoS.