The Home Office announces changes to the Global Business Mobility visa route

The Home Offices recently announced amendments and updates to a number of visa routes, including the Global Business Mobility visa route (GBM), effective from 12 April 2023. Some of the main changes that sponsors will need to be aware of are highlighted below.

Salary

One of the requirements that must be met when sponsoring an individual under the GMB visa route, is that the job must meet a particular salary threshold. The Home Office has assigned a minimum salary requirement to the visa route in general, and to each particular job role on their list of eligible occupations. Both of these thresholds are changing. The employer must pay the employee whichever figure is the higher one.

The minim salary requirement for GBM route is currently £42,400. As of 12 April 2023, the general minimum salary threshold for the visa category will increase to £45,800.

The Home Office is also basing all job-specific salaries on weekly hours of 37.5, instead of the 39 hours it has used until now. The general salary review together with these changes means that some salary thresholds have gone up, and some have gone down. It is important for sponsors to check the relevant salary for all Certificates of Sponsorship is assigned on or after 12 April 2023.

Continuous break in employment

The Home Office have listed a number of acceptable reasons as to why a sponsored individual may have a break during the course of their employment. The recently published guidance includes ‘jury service’ and ‘attending court as a witness’ as acceptable reasons for a break in employment for individuals sponsored under the GBM route.

National minimum wage

The recent statement of changes now includes a provision to ensure that sponsors are complying with the UK National Minimum Wage regulations and the Working Time Regulations.

How Gherson can assist

Gherson’s Immigration Team are highly experienced in advising on UK visa matters. If you have any questions arising from this blog, please do not hesitate to contact us for advice, send us an e-mail, or, alternatively, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn to stay-up-to-date.

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