A wide-ranging package of immigration rule amendments—set out in Statement of Changes HC 259—enters into force this morning, 1 August 2026. The 180-page document, laid before Parliament on 9 July, touches almost every corporate immigration route. Key measures include an uplift of the general salary threshold for the Skilled Worker visa from £29,000 to £32,100, a streamlined digital renewal process for the Global Business Mobility routes, and technical fixes to prepare the legal framework for next year’s full switch to electronic travel authorisations (ETAs) for all non-visa-nationals. The Home Office says the revisions are designed to “maintain the competitiveness of the UK economy while protecting resident workers”. Employers sponsoring migrants will now need to update Certificate of Sponsorship templates to reflect the higher salary floor, but transitional protection means applications filed before 1 August are assessed against the previous rate. The Graduate route remains unchanged despite speculation it might be curtailed; instead, HC 259 tightens academic progression wording to stop “visa hopping” between postgraduate programmes. For business travellers, the statement confirms that from 1 October 2026 all ETA-exempt cohorts—such as Gulf nationals and US citizens—will be brought inside the scheme. Carriers have welcomed the 14-day minimum processing window written into the rules, saying it gives airlines clarity when checking documentation at check-in. In parallel, Border Force is upgrading e-gates so that approved ETA holders can scan their passports without queuing for manual inspection. Heathrow and Manchester began live testing last month. Legal advisers note that the most practical headache may be the new “permission to travel” requirement, which obliges Skilled Workers returning from holiday to hold either a physical BRP or a digital eVisa linked to their current passport. HR teams are being urged to audit employee travel plans during the summer peak and to remind staff to update passports in their UKVI accounts. With a general election expected by May 2027, today’s changes could be the last substantial rewrite of the Immigration Rules under the present government. Multinationals are advised to road-test their sponsorship work-flows against the amended rules and refresh cost projections for 2026-27 to reflect higher salary and immigration health-surcharge outlays.
