SI 2025/1324 - The Immigration Skills Charge (Amendment) Regulations 2025

Status: This is the original version (as it was originally made). This item of legislation is currently only available in its original format. STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS 2025 No. 1324 IMMIGRATION The Immigration Skills Charge (Amendment) Regulations 2025 Made - - - - 15th December 2025 Coming into force - - 16th December 2025 The Secretary of State makes these Regulations with the consent of the Treasury in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 70A and 74(8) of the Immigration Act 2014(1). In accordance with section 74(2)(ja)(2) of that Act, a draft of this instrument was laid before Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament. Citation, commencement and extent 1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Immigration Skills Charge (Amendment) Regulations 2025 and come into force on 16th December 2025. (2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Amendment to the Immigration Skills Charge Regulations 2017 2.—(1) The Immigration Skills Charge Regulations 2017(3) are amended as follows. (2) In regulation 4 (exemptions from the charge), for paragraph (a) substitute— “(a) in respect of an occupation coming within any of the following codes in version 12 of the Standard Occupational Classification 2020 Index(4)— (i)2111 (chemical scientists); (ii)2112 (biological scientists); (iii)2113 (biochemists and biomedical scientists); (iv)2114 (physical scientists); (1) 2014 c. 22. Consent of the Treasury is required by section 70A(5). Section 70A was inserted by section 85(2) of the Immigration Act 2016 (c. 19). (2) Sub-paragraph (ja) was inserted by section 85(3) of the Immigration Act 2016. (3) S.I. 2017/499, amended by S.I. 2020/1208 and S.I. 2022/1391. (4) Published by the Office of National Statistics on 16 April 2025. An electronic copy is accessible via: https://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/classificationsandstandards/standardoccupationalclassificationsoc/ soc2020/soc2020volume2codingrulesandconventions. A paper copy of relevant entries can be obtained by emailing economicmigrationpolicy@homeoffice.gov.uk or by writing to the Economic Migration Policy Team, Home Office, 2 Marsham Street, SW1P 4DF.Document Generated: 2025-12-16 Status: This is the original version (as it was originally made). This item of legislation is currently only available in its original format. (v)2115 (social and humanities scientists); (vi)2119 (natural and social science professionals not elsewhere classified); (vii)2161 (research and development managers); (viii)2162 (other researchers, unspecified discipline); (ix)2311 (higher education teaching professionals); (x)2463 (clergy); (xi)3431 (sports players); (xii)3432 (sports coaches, instructors and officials);”. (3) In paragraph 2 of the Schedule (amount of charge payable by a sponsor), for the table substitute— “Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 12 months or less £480 £1320 More than 12 months, but no £720 £1980 more than 18 months More than 18 months, but no £960 £2640 more than 24 months More than 24 months, but no £1200 £3300 more than 30 months More than 30 months, but no £1440 £3960 more than 36 months More than 36 months, but no £1680 £4620 more than 42 months More than 42 months, but no £1920 £5280 more than 48 months More than 48 months, but no £2160 £5940 more than 54 months More than 54 months, but no £2400 £6600”. more than 60 months Mike Tapp Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State 11th December 2025 Home Office 2Document Generated: 2025-12-16 Status: This is the original version (as it was originally made). This item of legislation is currently only available in its original format. We consent Taiwo Owatemi Stephen Morgan Two of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury 15th December 2025 HM Treasury 3Document Generated: 2025-12-16 Status: This is the original version (as it was originally made). This item of legislation is currently only available in its original format. EXPLANATORY NOTE (This note is not part of the Regulations) These Regulations are made under section 70A of the Immigration Act 2014 (c. 22) and amend the Immigration Skills Charge Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/499) (“the 2017 Regulations”). The 2017 Regulations provide that a sponsor, subject to certain exemptions, must pay a charge each time it assigns a certificate of sponsorship to a skilled worker. Regulation 2(2) of these Regulations updates the exemptions to the requirement to pay the charge in order to align with the latest standard occupational classification codes, which are used by the Office for National Statistics to provide common classification of occupational information in the United Kingdom. Regulation 2(3) of these Regulations increases the amounts of charges payable by sponsors by 32%. A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument. The immigration skills charge is classified as a tax and is therefore out of scope of the Better Regulation Framework. 4