Most hospitality roles no longer sponsorable
The skill threshold for Skilled Worker sponsorship is rising, meaning 111 roles will no longer be eligible for sponsorship of new candidates who are not already sponsored in those positions. Restaurant managers, customer service managers, and chefs will all fall foul of these changes.
Staff already on the Skilled Worker route or issued with a Certificate of Sponsorship prior to 22 July 2025 can, however, continue to be sponsored in these roles.
Temporary Shortage List
Another 52 roles will be placed on a new Temporary Shortage List. The list is comprised of roles that will not meet the new skills threshold but have been identified as being important to the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy.
Roles that will be moved to the Temporary Shortage List include sales executives; advertising and marketing associates; and HR officers. It will still be possible to sponsor new applicants for roles on the Temporary Shortage List after 22 July, but the Home Office intend for the list to be removed for new applicants by 31 December 2026.
Salary threshold increases
Minimum salary thresholds and going rates will increase for new sponsorships. Different salary thresholds will be preserved for those who were first sponsored prior to the salary increases in April 2024.
This unfortunately introduces a layer of complexity in determining which salary rates are applicable to which workers, as:
- The general salary threshold for those sponsored after 22 July 2025 will increase from £38,700 to £41,700, unless they are eligible for a lower rate.
- The threshold for certain eligible “new entrants”, including those under the age of 26 or those switching from a Student or Graduate visa, will rise from £30,960 to £33,400.
- Those first sponsored prior to 4 April 2024 will continue to benefit from reduced minimum salary rates, but will need to be mindful of their general threshold increasing from £29,000 to £31,300 whenever they come around to their next Skilled Worker visa application.
- Going rates will also generally increase. For example, from 22 July 2025 a business development manager first sponsored after 4 April 2024 will now need to be paid at least £55,200 per year, up from £52,500.
Sponsors do not need to increase salaries for existing sponsored workers, but they will need to be mindful of the new applicable thresholds when re-sponsoring existing staff or looking to take on new sponsored staff.
Is this the end of visa sponsorship for the hospitality sector?
It will no longer be possible to sponsor new recruits in most hospitality roles if they are assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship for the first time on or after 22 July 2025, regardless of salaries. However, sponsorship in these roles is still possible for anyone who was first issued a Certificate of Sponsorship before 22 July 2025.
The salary threshold increases to £38,700 on 4 April 2024 already made sponsorship in the hospitality sector difficult, and the new threshold of £41,700 will undoubtedly exclude many more potential applicants. However, for those first assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route before 4 April 2024, sponsorship is still feasible. The new salary threshold for these Skilled Workers is £31,300.
Sponsors can check if workers are eligible under this threshold by asking for the date that the individual was first assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship on the Skilled Worker route. If the Certificate was assigned before 4 April 2024, and the worker has held their Skilled Worker permission continuously since then, they can be sponsored at the lower threshold of £31,300.
Contact us for advice
Please get in touch with our expert Immigration team or your usual Shepherd and Wedderburn contact if would like to have a chat about how these changes will impact your business.