Home Secretary commissions reviews of work visa salary thresholds, discounts and the Temporary Shortage List

3 July 2025

The Home Secretary commissioned reviews today of work visa minimum salaries and of the new Temporary Shortage List from the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).

As part of measures set out in the UK government’s Immigration White Paper to curb employers recruiting lesser skilled roles from abroad and instead pivot to training the British workforce, Skilled Worker visas – the main post-Brexit work visa – have been restricted to RQF6 (degree-level equivalent in skillset) and above, with 111 occupations no longer available to hire from abroad from 22 July 2025.

As a temporary fix for skills shortages that the government regards crucial to industrial strategy or delivering key infrastructure, it’s launched a new interim Temporary Shortage List of 52 occupation codes below RQF6 that employers can continue to sponsor up to the end of 2026, as well as slightly expanding the Immigration Salary List to 25 occupations that can be sponsored on a lower general salary threshold.

Yvette Cooper has now written to the MAC’s Professor Bell asking him to review these lists. The jobs on them and any salary threshold discounts are up for review, as well as the wider issue of minimum salaries for sponsored work visas which have been hiked up massively over the past year. (Far higher than the average salary at the Home Office for instance).

She asks the MAC to report within six months on:

• Skilled Worker general salary thresholds
• salary thresholds for Health and Care Worker visas
• Global Business Mobility and Scale-up salary thresholds
• threshold discounts (such as new entrant, shortage occupations, PhD etc)
• occupational going rates (which leapt from the 25th to 50th percentile).

The Home Secretary has also asked for a report on the Temporary Shortage List to examine over the next six months how sectors and employers will work with Skills England, devolved governments and the DWP on skills and workforce strategies to increase domestic recruitment.

Then within the next 12 months the MAC will report on:

• which occupations should remain eligible for the Temporary Shortage List as they are key to UK industrial strategy or critical infrastructure
• which have met the criteria for inclusion due to workforce shortages
• which have met the requirement for strategies to recruit domestically
• how these shortage occupations apply to one or more UK nations.

The Home Secretary writes that she recognises that “workforce strategies will not yet be fully developed for each occupation. The MAC should make allowances for this, and may decide to focus the review on sectors where overarching bodies who could lead on such plans are already in place.”

As with all MAC reviews, the Home Secretary is free to pick and choose which recommendations to follow or ignore…

Please do not hesitate to contact me to discuss recruitment strategies involving immigrants and how they may be affected by upcoming changes.

What are minimum salary thresholds for sponsoring Skilled Worker after 22 July 2025?

Skilled Workers must be sponsored on a gross wage which is above the highest of the ‘minimum salary threshold’ for this visa category, the going rate of pay for that particular occupation as defined by the UK government, as well as complying with National Minimum Wage rules – with exceptions for the discounts below.

From 22 July 2025, the minimum salary threshold is rising from the current £38,700 to £41,700, a rise the government says is uprating to keep pace with inflation. The hourly rate will rise from £15.88 to £17.13.

For those with a non-STEM PhD and a 10% discount, the £34,830 minimum salary threshold will rise to £37,500. For New Entrants and sponsored Skilled Workers with STEM PhDs, or those on the Immigration Salary List who qualify for a 20% discount, the £30,960 minimum salary will be uprated to £33,400. People already on the Skilled Worker route before April 2024’s changes and a few ‘Health and Care ASHE salary job’ occupation codes not on a national pay scale have a minimum salary threshold rise from £29,000 to £31,300. And those in these categories with a 10 per cent PhD discount have a minimum rise from £26,100 to £28,200.

The MAC’s review of salaries and discounts is expected to spell more changes. Since April 2024, the minimum salary threshold has been based on the median of all occupations eligible for sponsorship as a Skilled Worker. Whether this formula will continue to be used, or whether this would be too big a leap now that 111 RQF3-5 occupations have been removed, remains to be seen.

What are new salary thresholds from 22 July for other work visas?

There are also new salary thresholds for workers sponsored under Global Business Mobility routes. Senior or Specialist Workers to meet specific business needs and UK Expansion Workers’ minimum salary thresholds will rise from £48,500 to £52,500 on 22 July. For Graduate Trainees, the rise will be from £25,410 to £27,300.

Scale-up Workers’ minimum salaries will be uprated from £36,300 to £39,100. Though transitional rates continue to apply to earlier grants of permission as those on a Scale-up visa have a minimum based on when they were first assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS).

What occupations are on the Temporary Shortage List from 22 July 2025?

The new Temporary Shortage List, contains occupations at RQF levels 3-5 which the Department for Business and Trade and His Majesty’s Treasury have identified as being important for the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy. The UK Government’s 10-year Modern Industrial Strategy policy paper recently revealed eight sectors – the IS-8 – it says have the highest potential for growth: advanced manufacturing, creatives, life sciences, clean energy, defence, technology, financial services and professional services such as accounting and legal. The list below suggests a rather flexible interpretation.

These occupations are on the current list, set to be reviewed by the MAC later this year.

• 1243 Managers in logistics
• 1258 Directors in consultancy services
• 3111 Laboratory technicians
• 3112 Electrical and electronics technicians
• 3113 Engineering technicians
• 3114 Building and civil engineering technicians
• 3115 Quality assurance technicians
• 3116 Planning, process and production technicians
• 3120 CAD, drawing and architectural technicians
• 3131 IT operations technicians
• 3132 IT user support technicians
• 3133 Database administrators and web content technicians
• 3412 Authors, writers and translators
• 3414 Dancers and choreographers
• 3417 Photographers, audio-visual and broadcasting equipment operators
• 3422 Clothing, fashion and accessories designers
• 3429 Design occupations not elsewhere classified – only the following job types:

• • Industrial and product designers
  • Packaging designers
  • Performance make-up artists
  • Set designers
  • Visual merchandising managers and designers

• 3512 Ship and hovercraft officers
• 3520 Legal associate professionals
• 3532 Insurance underwriters
• 3533 Financial and accounting technicians
• 3541 Estimators, valuers and assessors
• 3544 Data analysts
• 3549 Business associate professionals not elsewhere classified – only the following job types:

• • Business support officers
  • Business systems analysts
  • Contract administrators
  • Clinical coders
  • Clinical trials administrators
  • Research coordinators

• 3552 Business sales executives
• 3554 Advertising and marketing associate professionals
• 3571 Human resources and industrial relations officers
• 3573 Information technology trainers
• 4121 Credit controllers
• 4122 Book-keepers, payroll managers and wages clerks
• 4129 Financial administrative occupations not elsewhere classified – only the following job types:

• • Box office assistants
  • Grants officers
  • Mortgage administrators
  • Revenue assistants (excludes National and Local government revenue occupations)
  • Treasury assistants

• 4132 Pensions and insurance clerks and assistants
• 5213 Welding trades
• 5214 Pipe fitters
• 5223 Metal working production and maintenance fitters
• 5225 Air-conditioning and refrigeration installers and repairers
• 5231 Vehicle technicians, mechanics and electricians
• 5232 Vehicle body builders and repairers
• 5233 Vehicle paint technicians
• 5235 Boat and ship builders and repairers
• 5241 Electricians and electrical fitters
• 5242 Telecoms and related network installers and repairers
• 5244 Computer system and equipment installers and servicers
• 5245 Security system installers and repairers
• 5249 Electrical and electronic trades not elsewhere classified
• 5311 Steel erectors
• 5315 Plumbers and heating and ventilating installers and repairers
• 5319 Construction and building trades not elsewhere classified – only the following job types:

• • Builders
  • Divers
  • Fence erectors
  • Industrial climbers
  • Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) operators
  • Steel fixers and underpinners

• 5322 Floorers and wall tilers
• 5323 Painters and decorators
• 5330 Construction and building trades supervisors
• 8133 Energy plant operatives

What jobs are on the Immigration Salary List from 22 July 2025?

• 1212 Managers and proprietors in forestry, fishing and related services – only “fishing boat masters” (only in Scotland)
• 1232 Residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors
• 2111 Chemical scientists – only jobs in the nuclear industry (only in Scotland)
• 2112 Biological scientists – all jobs
• 2115 Social and humanities scientists – only archaeologists
• 2142 Graphic and multimedia designers – all jobs
• 3111 Laboratory technicians – only jobs requiring three or more years’ related on-the-job experience which was not gained illegally.
• 3212 Pharmaceutical technicians – all jobs
• 3411 Artists – all jobs
• 3414 Dancers and choreographers – only skilled classical ballet dancers or skilled contemporary dancers who meet the standard required by UK ballet or contemporary dance company that is endorsed as being internationally recognised by a UK industry body such as the Arts Councils.
• 3415 Musicians – only skilled orchestral musicians who are leaders, principals, sub-principals or numbered string positions, and who meet the standard required by internationally recognised UK orchestras that are full members of the Association of British Orchestras.
• 3416 Arts officers, producers and directors – all jobs
• 5119 Agriculture and fishing trades not elsewhere classified – only jobs in the fishing industry
• 5213 Welding trades – only high integrity pipe welders, where the job requires three or more years’ related on-the-job experience obtained through working legally.
• 5235 Boat and ship builders and repairers – all jobs (only Scotland)
• 5312 Stonemasons and related trades – all jobs
• 5313 Bricklayers – all jobs
• 5314 Roofers, roof tilers and slaters – all jobs
• 5316 Carpenters and joiners – all jobs
• 5319 Construction and building trades not elsewhere classified – only retrofitters
• 6129 Animal care services occupations not elsewhere classified – only racing grooms, stallion handlers, stud grooms, stud hands, stud handlers and work riders
• 6131 Nursing auxiliaries and assistants – all jobs (only applies to roles in environments where registered nurse roles also exist.)
• 6135 Care workers and home carers – for transitionary sponsoring of those already working legally in these roles in the UK until 2028
• 6136 Senior care workers – for transitionary sponsoring of those already working legally in these roles in the UK until 2028
• 9119 Fishing and other elementary agriculture occupations not elsewhere classified – only deckhands on large fishing vessels (9 metres and above) where the job requires at least three years’ full-time legally-obtained experience.