What has changed in UK immigration rules, and what is coming with a confirmed start date.
Each entry links to the primary GOV.UK source.
Confirmed, not yet in force
Visitors may attend rehearsals, workshops and debates; training no longer has to be unavailable at home
Affects: Standard Visitor, ETA
HC 584 (laid 3 September 2026): Appendix Visitor: Permitted Activities is widened. All visitors may take part in workshops, debates and skills competitions; artists, entertainers and musicians may attend rehearsals as well as perform, with defined entertainment staff able to assist; and visitors undertaking training no longer need to show the training is unavailable in their home country. Separate Erasmus+ activities (training, courses, traineeships of up to 30 days, job shadowing, coaching assignments, short school placements) open to programme participants ahead of the UK’s association from 2027.
Skilled Workers recognised as modern slavery victims may work for any employer
Affects: Skilled Worker
HC 584 (laid 3 September 2026): Skilled Workers with a positive Conclusive Grounds decision under the National Referral Mechanism can have their work conditions amended to allow any work for the rest of their permission. Salary thresholds and English requirements for the route are unchanged. The same statement also expands visitor and student provision for the Erasmus+ programme.
EUSS: joining family members must apply within 3 months of their latest entry; travel permit route closed
Affects: EU Settlement Scheme
HC 584 (laid 3 September 2026): a first-time joining family member must apply to the scheme within three months of their most recent lawful entry to the UK since 31 December 2020, rather than by reference to their first arrival; someone previously refused or rejected after entering without a family permit must show reasonable grounds for a later application or re-enter with a permit. The EUSS travel permit route is deleted (status holders update passport details online instead). Pre-settled status can be retained where removal would be disproportionate, and children with pre-settled status whose EU-citizen parent worked in the UK can keep it to finish their education (Ayoola), together with a primary carer.
BN(O) dependent children no longer need 5 years' continuous residence to settle
Affects: Hong Kong BN(O)
HC 584 (laid 3 September 2026): dependent children under 18 on the BN(O) route can be granted settlement alongside their parents when the parents qualify, without completing their own five-year continuous residence period. This aligns the route with the treatment of children on other settlement routes. Adults on the route are unaffected.
Minister of Religion: cap on total time in the route removed; religious orders exempt from the non-pastoral limit
Affects: Minister of Religion, Religious Worker
HC 584 (laid 3 September 2026): from this date there is no upper limit on how long someone can remain on the Minister of Religion route, bringing it in line with other work routes; members of religious orders are exempt from the rule that the role must not be mainly non-pastoral; and the financial requirement is assessed differently where the applicant is exempt from the National Minimum Wage. The Religious Worker route (Temporary Work) replaces the advertising requirement with an affiliation requirement. The length of each grant (up to 3 years and 1 month on entry, 3 years on extension) is not changed.
Student maintenance requirement rises to £1,570 (London) / £1,203 (outside London) per month
Affects: Student, Child Student
HC 584 raises the monthly living-cost requirement from £1,529 to £1,570 in London and from £1,171 to £1,203 outside London, aligned with 2026/27 home student maintenance loans. Applications made before 30 November 2026 are decided under the current amounts.
EUSS: expired biometric residence permits no longer accepted as proof of identity
Affects: EU Settlement Scheme
HC 584 (laid 3 September 2026): the provision allowing a biometric residence permit expired by up to 18 months to be used as proof of identity and nationality in an EUSS application is removed, as almost all BRPs expired by 31 December 2024. Applicants use a valid passport or national identity card.
Graduate visa shortens to 18 months for non-doctoral graduates
Affects: Graduate
Applications made on or after this date get 18 months instead of 2 years (doctoral graduates keep 3 years). Applications made by 31 December 2026 still receive the full 2 years.
Settlement (ILR) English requirement rises to B2 on affected routes
Affects: Settlement (ILR)
Confirmed by the March 2026 Statement of Changes: ILR applications on affected routes (including Skilled Worker, UK Ancestry, Global Talent, Long Residence and Private Life) will need English at B2 from this date; the BN(O) route is not in the announced list and stays at B1. Until then B1 applies. The citizenship (naturalisation) requirement stays at B1 for now.
Children born in the UK during Graduate permission can apply as dependants
Affects: Graduate
HC 259 (laid 9 July 2026) closed a gap in the Graduate route: a child born in the UK during a parent’s current Graduate permission can now apply as a dependant. Previously only family members who already held dependant permission during the parent’s studies could extend on the route. The same statement made mostly technical alignments across family, asylum and suitability provisions.
Most application fees rose 6–7%: ETA £20, Student £558, partner entry clearance £2,064, ILR £3,226, naturalisation £1,839 (including ceremony fee). The IHS, CoS fee and Immigration Skills Charge were unchanged; the child citizenship registration fee fell to £1,000.
English requirement for new Skilled Worker applications rises to B2
Affects: Skilled Worker
New applications need English at B2 (upper-intermediate). People already on the route before this date can still rely on B1 for extensions under transitional arrangements.
Skilled Worker threshold rises to £41,700; degree-level rule; care route closed
Affects: Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker
The general salary threshold rose from £38,700 to £41,700, the standard skill level moved up to RQF 6 (degree level), overseas recruitment of care workers closed, and interim access for RQF 3–5 occupations was introduced through the expanded Immigration Salary List and the new Temporary Shortage List (dependant restrictions for new applicants), with both lists currently running until 31 December 2026.