UK Immigration White Paper 2025: Scottish Government proposals

‘Scottish Exemptions’ for existing visa routes

‘Scottish Exemption’ to the ban on dependents for Student and Health and Care Visa routes

Home Office data shows the impact that the restrictions on dependent visas for most international student and social care visa applicants is having on application numbers.

The Scottish Government accepts that the UK Government has a commitment to ‘drive down net migration’, and that the restriction on dependent visas is designed to contribute to this aim.

However, Scotland’s differentiated economic and demographic requirements to England, especially when compared to London and the South-East of England, means that it risks being impacted particularly negatively by the reduction in numbers of people arriving to the UK as either students or social care workers.

The tailored migration proposals presented in this paper are representative of the fact that different countries and regions within the UK have different needs of the immigration system.

To that end, the Scottish Government believes that it would be proportionate and appropriate for the UK government to introduce a ‘Scottish Exemption’ to the ban on dependents for Student and Health and Care Visa routes.

Given the significant difference in the number of universities (19 vs 109) and subsequent international student places in Scotland compared to England, it is rational that an exemption route for Scottish Universities which allows international students to have associated dependents also be granted a visa would not significantly impact the efficacy of the English dependent ban, whilst also granting a needed and popular concession to the Scottish University sector.

Similarly, whereas the establishment of support hubs in England to provide relocation assistance to displaced social care workers on the Health and Care visa is demonstrative of the fact that in England, there is a difficulty to match demand for care workers with supply, this is not the case in Scotland, where stakeholder engagement continues to tell of difficulties in recruiting sufficient numbers of care workers to meet the needs of the sector in Scotland.

Given the population difference between England and Scotland (and therefore the estimated total numbers of people in Scotland requiring care vs the total in England), allowing workers sponsored by Scottish employers to bring dependents with them would again meet the Scottish sectors needs without significantly impacting on the wider aim to reduce overall levels of migration which would be achieved through continuing to maintain the dependants ban in England.

This differential approach to the ban in England and Scotland would also encourage a refocussing of where migration would be targeted, encouraging a shift away from England and encouraging migration to Scotland. This would be mutually beneficial to both England and Scotland, serving to disincentivise migration to England, where a reduction in net migration is sought, whilst incentivising migration to Scotland, where immigration is an essential lever to bolster local communities and economies.

‘Scottish Exemption’ to the Family Visa financial requirements

The Scottish Government’s response to the MAC’s call for evidence on Family Visa financial requirements provides strong evidence that the current minimum income threshold of £29,000 required to bring a partner or family member to the UK is a barrier to people moving to Scotland, especially in those areas which are most at risk of depopulation.

The threshold as it currently stands prohibits between 40-50% of Scotland’s working adults, rising to over 50% for working women, from being eligible to bring a family member into the UK on a Family Visa.

Were this threshold to increase again, as outlined by the previous Conservative Government to £34,500 and then £38,700 by ‘early 2025’, 60-70% of working adults, and 75-80% of women, would be unable to meet the income requirement, highlighting the equalities issues associated with the current salary threshold.

Given the divergent ambitions of the Scottish and UK Governments in regard to migration, an ‘exemption’ or alternative, lower financial threshold for the Family Visa route for applicants who choose to settle in Scotland would serve the demographic interests of both Scotland and the rest of the UK, promoting migration to Scotland as an accessible alternative to the more restrictive current UK-wide Family Visa route.

Assurances to ensure compliance with the condition to settle in Scotland included in a salary ‘exemption’ or alternative could be upheld in the same manner as other proposals within this paper, including linking visa holders to a Scottish Tax code.

The Scottish Government look forward to engaging with the UK Government and the MAC to discuss the findings and recommendations of the review of financial requirements for the family visa once it has been completed.

‘Scottish Exemption’ to the Skilled Worker Visa salary threshold

In April 2024 the baseline minimum salary to be sponsored for a Skilled Worker visa increased from £26,200 to £38,700, while the ‘going rate’ minimum salary specific to each job also went up significantly. The list of jobs for which it is possible to sponsor someone for a Skilled Worker visa at a reduced minimum salary was made shorter and renamed the Immigration Salary List.

London and the south-east of England attracts disproportionately more skilled workers than the rest of the UK. Analysis by the Migration Observatory found that between 2016-2020, 44% of skilled workers with certificates of sponsorship were working in London, demonstrating the distorting effect that London has on the overall migration landscape for the UK.

Engagement across a variety of sectors, including work undertaken with Scottish Universities in the development of the ‘Migration: Meeting Scotland’s needs’ paper (see link in Tailored Migration proposal #2), has highlighted that the current Skilled Worker salary threshold of £38,700 is a barrier to individuals being able to move to or take up employment in Scotland.

While our ‘Scottish Graduate Visa’ proposal is an attempt to reduce the ‘cliff edge’ that this threshold creates for those attempting to transition from student or graduate visas onto the Skilled Worker Visa, a more effective, fair, and flexible solution to the challenges posed by such a high threshold could be addressed through the implementation of a lower threshold for Scotland.

This again would increase the feasibility and attractiveness of migration into Scotland, where employers, communities, and public services are eager to make the most of the immigration system to address issues which can’t be solved via domestic means. This approach, as with all of the proposals outlined in this paper, would better serve Scotland without limiting the efficacy of the threshold in reducing the number of Skilled Worker Visa holders in England.

A Scottish ‘exemption’ to the Skilled Worker Visa could also be seen to serve to address the disproportionately high number of migrants using the route to move to London, ensuring a redistribution of inward migration to the UK towards areas where it is required and away from regions seeking to reduce further inward migration.