| GLOBAL MOBILITY
ENGLAND
2025 REGULATORY CHANGES
Moving on up
“One of the key parts of the UK’s professional visa regime is the sponsor licence, which allows companies to employ someone from outside the UK to work for their business.”
There are several major regulatory changes due in 2025 that will impact on businesses’ mobility strategies. They include:
Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) reviews. The government is linking the MAC to other bodies dealing with industrial and skills strategy. This review will aim to look at skills shortages in the IT and engineering sectors, and whether there should be further partner visa minimum income increases. A white paper on linking visas with training. Alongside the MAC review, this is due in the next month and should give greater clarity on UK government plans. Travel to the EU. The latest on the much-delayed new EU Entry Exit System (EES) digital border framework is an EU Commission proposal for a phased implementation over a 6-month period. Changes to the global talent endorsing body for digital tech. The Home Office has put the contract out to tender for a new endorsing body to take over from Tech Nation, which should be settled by March 2025. The big question will be whether the qualifying criteria for digital tech Global Talent applications will change.
Political instability is putting pressure on mobile professionals across the world – and the UK is no exception.
regime governing working mobility moves slowly. Anyone looking to secure the correct visa should allow for between three and four months. • Prepare to pay fees: The UK government is not shy about collecting its take from the visa process. While the headline cost may appear low, there may be hidden fees to pay along the way. • Plan long term: Given the time and cost involved, think carefully about whether bringing in employees from overseas is the right way to go. • Get the right help: This can be an exhausting and time-consuming process, so it can definitely save time and aggravation to get expert help along the way.
Paul Beare Founder Paul Beare Ltd
T he issue of global mobility is an emerging theme across the world, as the supply and demand for talent is an ever- changing dynamic. In the UK, how and when people can move, work and settle has become increasingly complex as new rules – and exceptions – emerge. 2024 was a year of change in the impacted the mobility options of many professionals across the world. One of the key changes arrived in April when the minimum salary threshold went up to £38,700 – a big increase from the previous level of £26,200. The impact of the change was felt UK, as the outgoing government introduced several new rules that immediately, with a lot of low-skilled workers who may have been considering coming to the UK changing their plans. The move was part of the outgoing Conservative government’s efforts to reduce the politically problematic levels of low-skilled migration, with their overall intention of decreasing net migration into the UK. family and student visas, which removed some lower-ranked universities and the lower skilled courses from the student regime; meanwhile family visas, especially popular for health and social care workers already heavily impacted by this increase in the salary threshold, had a big impact Tightening up They also did this by tightening the
on their sector, as they decreased the ability to bring over dependents. This was also the case with seasonal work visas. One of the key parts of the UK’s professional visa regime is the sponsor licence, which allows companies to employ someone from outside the UK to work for their business. It’s a helpful way of retaining mobility and agility when hiring key workers, and in April 2024, UKVI announced that sponsor licences would no longer need to be renewed. Previously a skilled worker sponsor licence was issued for 4 years and would have to be renewed before its expiry. Free movement? Meanwhile, there has recently been some welcome clarity around one of the main work visa regimes – the Youth Mobility (YM) Visa. The YM Visa allows young people to come over to the UK to study, work in certain jobs, and even set up a company. “Depending on where you are, the Visa is open to those between 18 to 30 or 18 to 35,” says Jordan Walker, Paul Beare Ltd. “So, if you’re between 18 to 35 and from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or South Korea then you’re eligible; and if you’re from Andorra, Iceland, Japan, Monaco, San Marino and
Uruguay then you can apply between the ages of 18-30.” In summary, the YM Visa allows you to: • Live in the UK for up to 2 years. • Leave and re-enter the UK at any time during your stay. • Work (there are few restrictions on the types of work you can undertake on this visa). • Study. • Be self-employed and establish a company in the UK (the rules state that you cannot have employees, your premises must be rented, and you cannot have equipment worth more than £5,000). “Helpfully, the eligibility criteria and compliance regime around the YM Visa is fairly simple”, Walker explains. “You can apply six months before you travel and, as with most visas, they will take around three weeks to process. You also must pay an application fee of £298, as well as an immigration health surcharge of £776 per year.” There’s no doubt developing mobility strategies requires careful planning. Here are 4 key things to get right on mobility: • Give yourself enough time: The
ABOUT US... paulbeare.com
Paul has been immersed in the corporate services sector since he was 15 and is still relatively young to be heading up such a business. His vast experience allows him to act as a trusted advisor to clients, taking care of a range of services, from opening a bank account to setting up a payroll system. He developed his experience of international accountancy services working for his father’s business. Having started and grown his own firm, Paul Beare Ltd, in London and the surrounding area, he has since expanded to Australia and New Zealand. He is currently a resident of Auckland but remains a frequent visitor to the UK and still has strong family and personal ties to the UK and has a home in London.
Paul and his team support the needs of overseas companies setting up and operating in the UK. One element is paramount with every client – they all need support and expert guidance. Paul and his team advise clients on the appropriate legal entity, payroll, VAT, banking and company secretarial services. Clients range from publicly-quoted companies through to owner-managed businesses. Paul travels frequently to Australia, New Zealand and the US, and has been heavily involved in IR Global for nine years. He uses the support network for clients when they are focusing on expanding their UK company. Clients will use this as a foundation for further expansion into Europe and beyond. Paul Beare has particular expertise in helping clients decide on the best structures to use when setting up and growing a business in the UK.
+44 (0) 207 183 8786 paul@paulbeare.com irglobal.com/advisor/paul-beare
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