09/11/2025
The UK’s Immigration and Settlement Reform
This week’s key terms/concepts:
• Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR): The permission to live and work in the UK permanently without visa restrictions.
• Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF): A UK framework classifying qualifications by level and skills, often required to demonstrate eligibility for work or professional roles.
• Immigration Skills Charge: A fee that UK employers must pay when sponsoring certain migrant workers under specific routes, including the Skilled Worker visa.
Earlier this year, the UK Government released its white paper, Restoring Control Over the Immigration System, outlining proposals aimed at tightening rules around migration and settlement in the UK. The overarching purpose of the document is to address public pressure of a perceived ongoing immigration crisis in the UK, despite peak levels of immigration being reached over 2 years ago in June 2023. While not a legally binding document, the white paper signals the government’s intent to implement significant changes to existing immigration policies and laws. Since May, some of these changes have already come into effect, such as the immigration skills charge increase which will increase employer fees for sponsoring overseas workers by roughly 32%.
Why is this significant?
The proposal outlines significant changes to both high-level principles and specific policies, with eight measures explicitly detailing how they are expected to reduce net migration. Other measures include shortening the list of occupations eligible for employer sponsorship, extending the qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) from five to ten years, and raising the skill threshold from Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) Level 3 to Level 6, equivalent to a rise from A-level to bachelor’s degree level.
There are a number of consequences of the proposals: universities across the UK are likely to see a sharp reduction in the number of international students coming to the UK, university compliance and English language standards will become stricter, and exemptions to social care workers will cease to exist. As well as this, Rajeev Syal from The Guardian reported that 1.5 million foreign workers in the UK have faced uncertainty to their eligibility to apply for ILR since 2020, and the white paper may be set to add a rise to this figure.
How does this affect law firms?
Law firms specialising in public law, judicial review, and immigration are likely to see increased demand for advisory and litigation services as the reforms take effect. Transitional compliance for existing employees, strategic workforce planning for sectors impacted by the raised RQF 6 skill threshold, and potential challenges to ILR policy all present opportunities for firms to provide commercially valuable guidance. Firms will be expected to manage these changes, which will be essential for offering accurate and actionable services to their clients.
Lex Weekly 