The Home Secretary has announced that new changes and restrictions will come into force for those planning to come to the UK for work.
According to VisaGuide.World, these include raising the minimum wage for skilled workers, banning relatives from entering the country for health and social care workers, eliminating preferential wages for shortage occupations, and increasing financial requirements for family applications. The changes will take effect in the second quarter of this year.
According to Fragomen, the decision to increase the minimum wage for skilled workers will come into force on April 4 this year.
Another decision is not to increase the minimum wage for health and social care workers, and also to ban them from bringing relatives to the UK. These changes will take effect on March 11 this year.
According to UKVI, if the UK visa application contains all the required information and supporting documents, then the following service standards for waiting times will apply:
- For non-stay visa applications made outside the UK, around 90 percent will be resolved within three weeks, 98 percent within six weeks, and 100 percent within 12 weeks from the date of application.
- For permanent residence visa applications made outside the UK, 98.5 percent of applications will be resolved within 12 weeks from the date of application, and 100 percent will be resolved within 24 weeks.
- For applications for leave to remain made within the UK, including spouses, employees, and students, the standard processing time will be eight weeks.