Immigration advisers Five Star International have flagged significant Home Office amendments to Appendix Skilled Worker guidance, published on 24 January 2026 and effective retrospectively from 9 April 2025. The updates close loopholes that allowed employers to reclaim immigration expenses from sponsored staff and clarify how salary is calculated when workers invest in, or repay loans to, their sponsor.
Key points:
1. Salary calculations must now exclude any money the worker pays the sponsor—whether for business costs, immigration fees or investments—unless it forms part of a genuine salary-sacrifice benefit. This prevents employers from artificially inflating pay to meet minimum thresholds.
2. Sponsors are explicitly prohibited from recovering the sponsor-licence fee, certificate-of-sponsorship fee, Immigration Skills Charge or related administrative costs from workers across **all** sponsored routes, including Global Business Mobility and Scale-up. Breaches can trigger licence revocation.
3. Transitional relief allows Tier 2 (General) migrants extending with the same sponsor before 1 December 2026 to continue counting certain allowances, provided they are guaranteed for the full permission period and would also be paid to a settled worker.
![Home Office tightens Skilled Worker rules: sponsors barred from recouping licence costs]()
For companies unsure how these rule changes affect existing or future hires, VisaHQ’s corporate immigration team can help interpret the new guidance, prepare compliant documentation and process Skilled Worker applications through its online portal. Explore their services at https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/ to ensure your organisation remains fully compliant while keeping recruitment plans on track.
For HR and mobility teams the message is clear: review employment contracts, repayment clauses and any equity-for-salary arrangements to ensure they do not depress ‘eligible salary’ below the new thresholds (£12.82 per hour or the occupation’s going rate). Companies using claw-back agreements for visa costs must unwind them or risk civil penalties and reputational damage. Sponsors should also audit payroll to confirm that any deductions—pension top-ups, season-ticket loans, share-save schemes—qualify as optional benefits rather than business cost recovery.
The tightening aligns with the Home Office’s wider push to deter exploitation and reduce net migration while protecting domestic wage levels. Legal practitioners expect vigorous compliance audits once the eVisa system gives caseworkers real-time salary data later this year. Organisations renewing assignments or budgeting for new hires in 2026-27 should assume higher total employer costs and build in contingencies.
Key points:
1. Salary calculations must now exclude any money the worker pays the sponsor—whether for business costs, immigration fees or investments—unless it forms part of a genuine salary-sacrifice benefit. This prevents employers from artificially inflating pay to meet minimum thresholds.
2. Sponsors are explicitly prohibited from recovering the sponsor-licence fee, certificate-of-sponsorship fee, Immigration Skills Charge or related administrative costs from workers across **all** sponsored routes, including Global Business Mobility and Scale-up. Breaches can trigger licence revocation.
3. Transitional relief allows Tier 2 (General) migrants extending with the same sponsor before 1 December 2026 to continue counting certain allowances, provided they are guaranteed for the full permission period and would also be paid to a settled worker.
For companies unsure how these rule changes affect existing or future hires, VisaHQ’s corporate immigration team can help interpret the new guidance, prepare compliant documentation and process Skilled Worker applications through its online portal. Explore their services at https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/ to ensure your organisation remains fully compliant while keeping recruitment plans on track.
For HR and mobility teams the message is clear: review employment contracts, repayment clauses and any equity-for-salary arrangements to ensure they do not depress ‘eligible salary’ below the new thresholds (£12.82 per hour or the occupation’s going rate). Companies using claw-back agreements for visa costs must unwind them or risk civil penalties and reputational damage. Sponsors should also audit payroll to confirm that any deductions—pension top-ups, season-ticket loans, share-save schemes—qualify as optional benefits rather than business cost recovery.
The tightening aligns with the Home Office’s wider push to deter exploitation and reduce net migration while protecting domestic wage levels. Legal practitioners expect vigorous compliance audits once the eVisa system gives caseworkers real-time salary data later this year. Organisations renewing assignments or budgeting for new hires in 2026-27 should assume higher total employer costs and build in contingencies.
