Draft regulations confirm the date of the proposed Immigration Skills Charge increase and add new roles to the list of exempt occupations.
Provided the regulations are approved by Parliament, the new Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) will apply to Skilled Worker and Senior or Specialist Worker sponsors from 16 December 2025.
What is the Immigration Skills Charge?
The Immigration Skills Charge is a fee paid by sponsors when assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to someone on the Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker route. Some roles are exempt from the charge.
How much is the Immigration Skills Charge?
The Immigration Skills Charge will be increased:
- From £364 to £480 per year of sponsorship for small and charitable sponsors
- From £1,000 to £1,320 per year of sponsorship for medium and large sponsors
It is important that sponsors ensure that UK Visas & Immigration are aware of their company size to avoid underpaying or even overpaying Immigration Skills Charge.
Who is exempt?
12 Standard Occupation Codes are exempt from the Immigration Skills Charge under the new draft regulations.
Those switching from the Student visa route are also exempt. Those switching from the Graduate route are not exempt.
Actions for employers
Employers should review their pipeline of new hires and existing employees with visas to determine who may require sponsorship. It may be possible to bring forward applications to avoid the increase and make significant savings.
How we can help
At Turpin Miller we can assist you with:
- Understanding which Standard Occupation Codes are exempt from the Immigration Skills Charge
- Whether your company can benefit from paying the Immigration Skills Charge of a small or charitable company
- Advising and processing the sponsorship new hires and existing workers before the increase comes into effect
If you would like our assistance, please contact our Business and Skilled Migration team.