Budget announces visa salary reforms and longer job search protection for highly skilled workers
29 Oct 2026
If you are on a Skilled Worker visa, or plan to apply for one, the Budget published on 28 October 2026 sets out two plans that could affect you. These are announced plans. They are not rules you can use today.
The first plan is about salary. The Budget document says that "by implementing changes to minimum salary requirements" the government will make visa criteria fit local labour markets. The Employment Immigration Network (EIN) quotes the policy paper as saying the government is implementing Migration Advisory Committee recommendations on visa salary requirements "from spring 2027". EIN also quotes a plan for "reducing occupation-specific minimum salary thresholds from the median to the 25th percentile of wages". We could not read that section of the Budget paper directly, so the spring 2027 date and the 25th percentile detail come from EIN's report of it.
The second plan is about losing your job. The Budget says the government will "work towards allowing the highest skilled workers to access a visa curtailment period of up to six months". The aim is to give sponsored workers more time to find a new employer before they have to leave the UK. The wording is "work towards", so this is not yet a firm rule. EIN says the change is expected in 2027.
What should you do? Keep your current sponsorship and visa conditions as they are. Do not change plans based on these announcements alone. Watch GOV.UK for new Immigration Rules and Home Office guidance, which will show who qualifies and when the changes start.
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