The independent Migration Advisory Committee (“MAC”) is expected to report shortly on whether the threshold should be changed
The MAC was asked by the government in June 2019 to examine the question of salary thresholds and the way in which a points-based system might work. It forms part of the new post-Brexit immigration regime proposed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and may mean the controversial £30,000 salary floor for skilled workers may be disposed of.
The £30,000 limit is currently applied to those seeking tier 2 visas which is the main entry-route to the UK’s labour market for skilled workers from non-EU countries. A lower limit of £20,800 is applied to younger workers. It is expected that Downing Street will shortly set out the details of a so-called Australian-style points-based system in which salary is expected to form just one element. The new proposals are designed to be more nuanced than the previous requirement which recommended carte blanche minimum salary without taking any other criteria into account.
By reducing the threshold it is hoped that younger professionals at the start of their careers in key economic sectors such as the NHS and the creative industries will be encouraged to move to the UK. By comparison, family visas only require a minimum salary threshold of £18,600 to be able to bring some family members to the UK.
Moves to liberalise migration?
The proposal, If adopted, may point to a liberalisation of the UK’s migration policy. Other signs include an omission from the Conservative manifesto omitted of a promise to cap net migration below 100,000 a year.
The threshold is already waived in some sectors, such as in the NHS.
