UK Visas and Immigration placed a 1,422-page PDF archive of all Immigration Rules in force between 14 October and 3 November 2025 on GOV.UK. The 7 November publication ensures legal continuity after multiple Statements of Changes this autumn, including the English-language A-level requirement laid on 14 October and the Skilled Worker salary-threshold increase announced on 1 July.
Practitioners use the archive to evidence which rules applied to an applicant on a given submission date—a critical defence in administrative-review and Judicial Review proceedings. Sponsors completing right-to-work checks for staff whose CoS was assigned in October must reference these archived rules, not the live version, when assessing salary conformity and shortage-occupation status.
![Home Office publishes consolidated Immigration Rules archive for October – November]()
The Home Office reminded users that physical biometric-residence-permit references in older rules are progressively superseded by eVisa guidance. HR teams should therefore cross-check digital-status obligations when onboarding employees with vignette visas issued before July 2025.
Although the archive does not itself enact new policy, its release is an essential compliance tool and signals the Home Office’s drive for transparency ahead of the full digital-status switch-off targeted for March 2026.
Practitioners use the archive to evidence which rules applied to an applicant on a given submission date—a critical defence in administrative-review and Judicial Review proceedings. Sponsors completing right-to-work checks for staff whose CoS was assigned in October must reference these archived rules, not the live version, when assessing salary conformity and shortage-occupation status.
The Home Office reminded users that physical biometric-residence-permit references in older rules are progressively superseded by eVisa guidance. HR teams should therefore cross-check digital-status obligations when onboarding employees with vignette visas issued before July 2025.
Although the archive does not itself enact new policy, its release is an essential compliance tool and signals the Home Office’s drive for transparency ahead of the full digital-status switch-off targeted for March 2026.
