What’s new in UK immigration law: key takeaways from the October 2025 Statement of Changes

Explore the main updates from the UK Government’s October 2025 Statement of Changes, including new English language rules, Graduate Route reforms and other visa requirements.

On 14 October 2025, the Home Office published its latest Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules. These amendments implement many of the commitments set out in the May Immigration White Paper, which will affect applicants across various visa routes, such as Skilled Worker, Family and Private Life, Student and Graduate categories.

Changes to English language requirements

As of 8 January 2026, applicants under the Skilled Worker, High Potential Individual and Scale-up routes will be required to demonstrate English proficiency at B2 level on the Common European Framework for Refence for Languages (CEFR) scale, covering speaking, listening, reading and writing components. This represents an increase from the previous B1 level requirement.

Those who already have permission to stay in the UK under an economic migration route and have proven B1-level English on or before 8 January 2026 will not be required to meet the higher B2 standard when applying for an extension on the same route.

Changes to the Graduate visa

The Home Office claims that too many international graduates are remaining in the UK on the Graduate visa without taking up graduate-level employment and contributing to the economy.

To address this, the Graduate visa, which currently permits Bachelor’s and Master’s degree holders to remain in the UK for 2 years after graduation, will be reduced to 18 months. PhD graduates will still be granted 3 years of leave. This will apply to applications submitted from 1 January 2027.

Changes to Part 9: Grounds for Refusal

The Part 9: Grounds for Refusal provisions, which many visa routes were previously subject to, have been replaced with a new section titled Part Suitability. This change will provide a central reference point for all suitability and refusal grounds, ensuring that up-to-date and relevant terminology is applied across all visa routes. Materially, these rules largely mirror those under Part 9: Grounds for Refusal.

The key development is the applicability to family and private life routes. Previously, family and private life visa routes (such as spouse visas) had their own suitability requirements which, in practice, resulted in a more lenient decision-making process compared to other visa categories. This recognised differences in application when Convention rights were engaged. For example, overstayers were not subject to the same entry bans as those applied to other routes. These bespoke suitability requirements will also be replaced with the new Part Suitability requirements, which the Home Office hopes will bring improved consistency across various visa routes.

Additions to the Visa National List

Following the UK Government’s recognition of the state of Palestine, Palestine has been added to the Visa National List. This means that, from 11 November 2025, nationals of Palestine will be required obtain a visa prior to visiting the UK.

The Home Office announced that Botswana has also been added to the Visa National List following an increase in asylum claims from its citizens. Previously, citizens of Botswanan nationals only required an ETA to visit the UK. Whilst this change was effective immediately, those who had booked to visit the UK before 14 October 2025 can still do so with an ETA, provided their trip takes place before 25 November 2025.

How Gherson can assist

The latest Statement of Changes marks the second large set of amendments since the Home Office’s Immigration White Paper in May 2025. Those affected should ensure careful planning and compliance in light of the changes to minimise the risk of a refusal. 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 X, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn to stay-up-to-date.

The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please do not hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.

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