Overview

• The Home Office has laid changes before Parliament to move Skilled Worker, Scale-up and High Potential Individual routes to B2 English with in‑person Secure English Language Tests verified during visa processing from 8 January 2026.
• The Graduate Route will be reduced to 18 months for most degree holders from 1 January 2027, while PhD graduates will continue to receive three years.
• Employers’ Immigration Skills Charge will rise by 32% to £480 per sponsored worker per year for small or charitable sponsors and £1,320 for medium and large sponsors, with the increase now progressing through Parliament.
• The High Potential Individual route will broaden to graduates from the top 100 global universities, capped at 8,000 applications yearly, with entrants expected to double from roughly 2,000 to 4,000.
• A visa requirement for all Botswana nationals took effect immediately at 3pm on 14 October, and the Home Office estimates the higher English threshold alone will reduce visa applicants by about 400–1,500 in 2026–27.