The United Kingdom Home Secretary, James Cleverly, has announced new regulations designed to reduce migration, as reported by the BBC. 

The changes include an increase in the minimum salary requirement for a skilled worker visa from £26,000 to £38,700.

Cleverly indicated that if these rules had been applied last year, they could have cut annual migration by 300,000.

Health and social care visa applicants will be exempt from this increased salary requirement. 

However, overseas care workers will face restrictions on bringing dependents, such as partners and children, to the UK. This means that a UK resident marrying a non-UK citizen must meet the £38,700 income threshold before their spouse can join them in the UK.

In 2022, the UK’s net migration—the difference between incoming and outgoing individuals—was 745,000. 

Cleverly emphasized that the new policy aims to ensure that individuals only bring dependents they can financially support, aligning the income requirement for family visas with the skilled worker threshold.

“We will ensure people only bring dependents whom they can support financially, by raising the minimum income for family visas to the same threshold as the minimum salary threshold for Skilled Workers, £38,700,” he said.