Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will list the ranking tables that will determine the top 150 global institutions for the High Potential Individual visa.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The rankings systems used to compile the ‘Global Universities Lists’ for the High Potential Individual route are set out in Paragraph 6.2 of the Immigration Rules. These are:
To be included, universities will need to feature in the top 150 in at least two of these rankings for the relevant years.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 6.95 of the Budget 2026, how the curtailment period will vary with the length of employment in the previous job; and what period will apply to workers below the minimum length of employment.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government announced in Budget 2026 its intention to introduce an extended curtailment period for eligible sponsored workers. The changes are due to be implemented in 2027, and further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 6.95 of the Budget 2026, what definition of highest skilled will determine eligibility for the extended curtailment period.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government announced in Budget 2026 its intention to introduce an extended curtailment period for eligible sponsored workers. The changes are due to be implemented in 2027, and further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what transitional arrangements will apply to Graduate visa applicants between 1 January 2027 and the start of the two-year route.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government has announced its plans to increase the duration of the Graduate visa to two years for graduates from high compliance universities where there are strong labour market outcomes. Further details, including any transitional arrangements, will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if will set out (a) how the proportional increase to the High Potential Individual visa cap will be calculated and (b) what the new annual cap will be.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This question relates to announced changes to work visa salary thresholds in the Budget:
6.94 Implementing Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommendations on visa salary requirements – The government is implementing MAC recommendations on visa salary requirements from spring 2027. These comprise:
reducing occupation-specific minimum salary thresholds from the median to the 25th percentile of wages; uprating the general threshold based on 2026 wage data;
annually updating salary thresholds using the latest ONS wage inflation data (ASHE);
levelling new entrant discounts into a single figure for those studying, recently graduated, or in professional training;
removing the PhD discount.
These changes were based on the MAC’s December 2025 report on salaries www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-salary-requirements, which stated:
“We recommend that occupation-specific thresholds for the SW route are set at a level which reduces the risk of undercutting domestic workers, without preventing certain jobs within occupations from using the system and inadvertently prioritising lower paid workers. Given this, we argue that the median is too high a level for occupational thresholds. We echo the recommendation we have made several times in the past that the 25th percentile of occupational earnings is adequate for this purpose. A reduction in the occupation-specific thresholds does not necessarily mean liberalising overall skilled work migration or increasing net migration, because the impact of these thresholds depends on the level of the general threshold.”
6.95 Extending visa curtailment to six months – The government will allow the highest skilled workers to access a visa curtailment period of up to six months. This will give highly skilled workers longer to find a new job, with the duration varying depending on how long they have worked in their previous, highly-paid job, with implementation in 2027.
Further details about the changes, and impacts, announced in Budget 2026 will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to lay a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules to bring the Budget 2026 measures into effect.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This question relates to announced changes to work visa salary thresholds in the Budget:
6.94 Implementing Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommendations on visa salary requirements – The government is implementing MAC recommendations on visa salary requirements from spring 2027. These comprise:
reducing occupation-specific minimum salary thresholds from the median to the 25th percentile of wages; uprating the general threshold based on 2026 wage data;
annually updating salary thresholds using the latest ONS wage inflation data (ASHE);
levelling new entrant discounts into a single figure for those studying, recently graduated, or in professional training;
removing the PhD discount.
These changes were based on the MAC’s December 2025 report on salaries www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-salary-requirements, which stated:
“We recommend that occupation-specific thresholds for the SW route are set at a level which reduces the risk of undercutting domestic workers, without preventing certain jobs within occupations from using the system and inadvertently prioritising lower paid workers. Given this, we argue that the median is too high a level for occupational thresholds. We echo the recommendation we have made several times in the past that the 25th percentile of occupational earnings is adequate for this purpose. A reduction in the occupation-specific thresholds does not necessarily mean liberalising overall skilled work migration or increasing net migration, because the impact of these thresholds depends on the level of the general threshold.”
6.95 Extending visa curtailment to six months – The government will allow the highest skilled workers to access a visa curtailment period of up to six months. This will give highly skilled workers longer to find a new job, with the duration varying depending on how long they have worked in their previous, highly-paid job, with implementation in 2027.
Further details about the changes, and impacts, announced in Budget 2026 will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 6.95 of the Budget 2026, what estimate she has made of the number of sponsored workers who would have qualified for the extended curtailment period in the last year.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This question relates to announced changes to work visa salary thresholds in the Budget:
6.94 Implementing Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommendations on visa salary requirements – The government is implementing MAC recommendations on visa salary requirements from spring 2027. These comprise:
reducing occupation-specific minimum salary thresholds from the median to the 25th percentile of wages; uprating the general threshold based on 2026 wage data;
annually updating salary thresholds using the latest ONS wage inflation data (ASHE);
levelling new entrant discounts into a single figure for those studying, recently graduated, or in professional training;
removing the PhD discount.
These changes were based on the MAC’s December 2025 report on salaries www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-salary-requirements, which stated:
“We recommend that occupation-specific thresholds for the SW route are set at a level which reduces the risk of undercutting domestic workers, without preventing certain jobs within occupations from using the system and inadvertently prioritising lower paid workers. Given this, we argue that the median is too high a level for occupational thresholds. We echo the recommendation we have made several times in the past that the 25th percentile of occupational earnings is adequate for this purpose. A reduction in the occupation-specific thresholds does not necessarily mean liberalising overall skilled work migration or increasing net migration, because the impact of these thresholds depends on the level of the general threshold.”
6.95 Extending visa curtailment to six months – The government will allow the highest skilled workers to access a visa curtailment period of up to six months. This will give highly skilled workers longer to find a new job, with the duration varying depending on how long they have worked in their previous, highly-paid job, with implementation in 2027.
Further details about the changes, and impacts, announced in Budget 2026 will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many occupation codes will see (a) a lower going rate when occupation-specific thresholds move from the median to the 25th percentile of wages and (b) no change because the general threshold applies instead.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This question relates to announced changes to work visa salary thresholds in the Budget:
6.94 Implementing Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommendations on visa salary requirements – The government is implementing MAC recommendations on visa salary requirements from spring 2027. These comprise:
reducing occupation-specific minimum salary thresholds from the median to the 25th percentile of wages; uprating the general threshold based on 2026 wage data;
annually updating salary thresholds using the latest ONS wage inflation data (ASHE);
levelling new entrant discounts into a single figure for those studying, recently graduated, or in professional training;
removing the PhD discount.
These changes were based on the MAC’s December 2025 report on salaries www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-salary-requirements, which stated:
“We recommend that occupation-specific thresholds for the SW route are set at a level which reduces the risk of undercutting domestic workers, without preventing certain jobs within occupations from using the system and inadvertently prioritising lower paid workers. Given this, we argue that the median is too high a level for occupational thresholds. We echo the recommendation we have made several times in the past that the 25th percentile of occupational earnings is adequate for this purpose. A reduction in the occupation-specific thresholds does not necessarily mean liberalising overall skilled work migration or increasing net migration, because the impact of these thresholds depends on the level of the general threshold.”
6.95 Extending visa curtailment to six months – The government will allow the highest skilled workers to access a visa curtailment period of up to six months. This will give highly skilled workers longer to find a new job, with the duration varying depending on how long they have worked in their previous, highly-paid job, with implementation in 2027.
Further details about the changes, and impacts, announced in Budget 2026 will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 6.94 of the Budget 2026, what estimate she has made of the number of Skilled Worker applicants affected by the removal of the PhD discount.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This question relates to announced changes to work visa salary thresholds in the Budget:
6.94 Implementing Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommendations on visa salary requirements – The government is implementing MAC recommendations on visa salary requirements from spring 2027. These comprise:
reducing occupation-specific minimum salary thresholds from the median to the 25th percentile of wages; uprating the general threshold based on 2026 wage data;
annually updating salary thresholds using the latest ONS wage inflation data (ASHE);
levelling new entrant discounts into a single figure for those studying, recently graduated, or in professional training;
removing the PhD discount.
These changes were based on the MAC’s December 2025 report on salaries www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-salary-requirements, which stated:
“We recommend that occupation-specific thresholds for the SW route are set at a level which reduces the risk of undercutting domestic workers, without preventing certain jobs within occupations from using the system and inadvertently prioritising lower paid workers. Given this, we argue that the median is too high a level for occupational thresholds. We echo the recommendation we have made several times in the past that the 25th percentile of occupational earnings is adequate for this purpose. A reduction in the occupation-specific thresholds does not necessarily mean liberalising overall skilled work migration or increasing net migration, because the impact of these thresholds depends on the level of the general threshold.”
6.95 Extending visa curtailment to six months – The government will allow the highest skilled workers to access a visa curtailment period of up to six months. This will give highly skilled workers longer to find a new job, with the duration varying depending on how long they have worked in their previous, highly-paid job, with implementation in 2027.
Further details about the changes, and impacts, announced in Budget 2026 will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the general visa salary threshold will be once uprated on 2026 wage data in the context of paragraph 6.94 of the Budget 2026.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This question relates to announced changes to work visa salary thresholds in the Budget:
6.94 Implementing Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommendations on visa salary requirements – The government is implementing MAC recommendations on visa salary requirements from spring 2027. These comprise:
reducing occupation-specific minimum salary thresholds from the median to the 25th percentile of wages; uprating the general threshold based on 2026 wage data;
annually updating salary thresholds using the latest ONS wage inflation data (ASHE);
levelling new entrant discounts into a single figure for those studying, recently graduated, or in professional training;
removing the PhD discount.
These changes were based on the MAC’s December 2025 report on salaries www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-salary-requirements, which stated:
“We recommend that occupation-specific thresholds for the SW route are set at a level which reduces the risk of undercutting domestic workers, without preventing certain jobs within occupations from using the system and inadvertently prioritising lower paid workers. Given this, we argue that the median is too high a level for occupational thresholds. We echo the recommendation we have made several times in the past that the 25th percentile of occupational earnings is adequate for this purpose. A reduction in the occupation-specific thresholds does not necessarily mean liberalising overall skilled work migration or increasing net migration, because the impact of these thresholds depends on the level of the general threshold.”
6.95 Extending visa curtailment to six months – The government will allow the highest skilled workers to access a visa curtailment period of up to six months. This will give highly skilled workers longer to find a new job, with the duration varying depending on how long they have worked in their previous, highly-paid job, with implementation in 2027.
Further details about the changes, and impacts, announced in Budget 2026 will be shared in due course.