The 2026 Shift: A strategic briefing on the “Earned Settlement” Era in UK Immigration Law

The skill level change most coverage missed

The salary figures attract the attention, but the change with the widest effect was structural.

Since 22 July 2025, the minimum skill level for a Skilled Worker role rose from RQF Level 3, roughly A-level equivalent, to RQF Level 6, degree level. That removed a substantial number of previously eligible occupations from the route entirely, particularly mid-skill roles.

For advisers, this matters because it is a threshold question that precedes salary. A role that no longer meets the skill level cannot be rescued by paying more. Checking the SOC code against the current eligibility tables should be the first step in any assessment, not a formality after the salary calculation.

Transitional arrangements apply to some workers already in the route, and shortage or temporary list roles are treated differently, so the position for an existing sponsored worker is not the same as for a new hire.

Salary: two tests, not one

A Skilled Worker salary must satisfy both the general threshold and the occupation-specific going rate, and must be the higher of the two.

The general threshold is £41,700. The going rate is set by reference to the four-digit SOC 2020 code for the occupation, drawn from national earnings data. Where the going rate exceeds £41,700, the going rate governs; where it is lower, the general threshold applies.

Beneath both sits an hourly floor. Where an hourly going-rate test applies and the calculated figure would fall below £17.13, that figure is treated as the applicable rate. Pay is assessed on no more than 48 paid hours a week, so extending hours cannot lift a weak offer over the line.

The practical consequence for sponsors is that refusals increasingly turn on the going rate and the hourly calculation rather than on the headline annual figure. A Certificate of Sponsorship audit that checks gross salary against £41,700 alone is checking the easier of two tests.

Reduced thresholds and new entrants

Several categories qualify at lower figures, and missing one produces an unnecessarily pessimistic answer for a client.

• New entrants. A reduced general threshold of £33,400 applies, subject to also meeting the relevant percentage of the going rate. The new entrant discount is limited in total duration, and time on a Graduate visa counts towards that limit.
• Immigration Salary List roles. Certain occupations qualify at the reduced general threshold rather than £41,700.
• Other discounted options. Further categories exist for particular qualifications and circumstances, each requiring a stated percentage of the going rate.

In every case the worker must be paid the higher of the cash figure and the stated percentage of the going rate, so the discount applies to one test rather than both.

Cost has risen elsewhere too. The Immigration Skills Charge increased in December 2025, and maintenance requirements continue to apply where the sponsor does not certify maintenance on the Certificate of Sponsorship.

The B2 English requirement

From 8 January 2026, new Skilled Worker applicants must demonstrate English at CEFR B2, upper intermediate, rather than B1.

The practical effect falls hardest on sectors that had relied on B1-level proficiency. A candidate who would have qualified in December 2025 may not qualify now, and the requirement interacts with the RQF Level 6 change to reposition the route towards graduate-level roles filled by fluent English speakers.

An applicant who has previously demonstrated English in a successful application may not need to prove it again, so the position for extensions differs from that for new applications.

Settlement reform: what is settled and what is not

This is the area where the most confident commentary is the least reliable, and where practitioners should be most careful.

The government consulted on an earned settlement model, under which the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain would move from five years to ten for most work-route migrants, with faster routes available for higher earners and for certain public service roles. The consultation closed in early 2026.

Current sources disagree on where this now stands. Some describe the ten-year period as the current standard position and identify sustained earnings thresholds for accelerated settlement; others state that the reform is not yet in force. The salary figures quoted for accelerated routes also vary between sources.

What can be said safely is that the direction is towards a longer standard qualifying period with accelerated routes tied to earnings and contribution, and that clients currently on a five-year path should be advised that their timeline may not be secure. Anyone approaching the five-year mark has an obvious interest in understanding the transitional position precisely.

The eVisa transition

The UK has moved to digital immigration status. Physical biometric residence permits and legacy passport vignettes have been replaced by eVisas accessed through a UKVI account.

Two practical issues arise repeatedly. The first is data mismatch: where a client travels on a new passport that has not been updated in their UKVI account, the status may not be located, and boarding can be refused. Advising clients to verify digital status and update passport details well before travel avoids most of these.

The second is right to work checking. Employers must verify status through the online service, and corporate clients need internal processes that reflect that rather than relying on document inspection.

For firms, there is also a records point. Where a client’s status exists only digitally, the firm’s file should record what was checked and when, because the underlying record can change without notice.

Sponsor licence compliance

Sponsor compliance has become a distinct advisory area rather than an administrative one.

The Sponsor Management System is best treated as a live risk register. Reporting duties arise on changes to a sponsored worker’s role, salary, work location and start date, and a failure to report is a compliance breach independent of whether the underlying change was permissible.

The areas producing difficulty in practice:

• Salary changes that take a worker below the applicable threshold, including where a going rate is updated
• Role changes that alter the SOC code, particularly where the new code has a higher going rate or falls outside the skill level
• Right to work checks not repeated where a visa expires
• Record-keeping that cannot be produced promptly during a compliance visit

Licence revocation ends the ability to sponsor and affects every sponsored worker the organisation employs, which is why the advisory value lies in pre-emptive audit rather than in responding to a visit.