Visa Fee Increases, Care Worker Changes, Organised Immigration Crime Summit and Other April 2025 Updates

Visa and Nationality Fees to Rise From 9 April

Certain UK visa, immigration and nationality fees are set to rise from 9 April 2025.

The fees affected include certain long- and short-term work visas, visitor visas, student visas and sponsorship.

Below is a selection of some of the visa and immigration fees that will be increasing. The full list of changes can be viewed on the UK government website here.

Visitor Visas

Work Visas (Applications Made Outside of UK)

Study Visas

Settlement and Nationality

Various Changes to Health and Care Worker, Skilled Worker and Short-Term Student Routes

In addition to the increase in visa and nationality fees coming into effect from 9 April 2025, the UK government have also announced various changes affecting certain visa routes.

These include the following, also due to come into effect on 9 April 2025:

• Care providers in England who wish to recruit a worker from overseas must provide proof that they have already tried to recruited a worker resident in England who requires new sponsorship.
• The minimum salary threshold for Skilled Workers, including care workers, will rise to £12.82 per hour.
  • Health and education occupations, including doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and teachers, will also see their minimum rates increased.
• “Tough new rules” will be introduced to allow for the Home Office to refuse Short-Term Student visa applications that are suspected to be non-genuine, in light of reports of abuse from within this route.

The new rules come at a time where the government are prioritising concerns of abuse from within certain visa routes.

The changes to how care workers are employed in England are also the latest in a long string of changes that have been enacted in recent years, including the banning of care and senior care workers from bringing dependents to the UK.

Stephen Kinnock, Minister of State for Care, stated:

“As we crack down on shameful rogue operators exploiting overseas workers here in the UK, we must do all we can to get the victims back into rewarding careers in adult social care.

Prioritising care workers who are already in the UK will get people back to work reducing our reliance on international recruitment, and make sure our social care sector has the care professionals it needs.”

UK Hosts First Major International Summit on Organised Immigration Crime

The UK has hosted the world’s first international summit on organised immigration crime, with over 40 countries having attended.

The Organised Immigration Crime (OIC) Summit took place in London on 31 March 2025 and focused primarily on how international coalitions can tackle the issue of people smuggling gangs and border safety.

Representatives from Meta, X and TikTok were also reported to attend to help contribute thoughts on how online promotion of illegal and irregular migration can be handled.

Discussions at the summit included the following, according to a Home Office press release:

• Tackling the supply chains and enablers of OIC
• The role of criminal finances in facilitating OIC
• The UK’s systems based approach to border security
• How online advertising, promoting and facilitating of organised crime groups can be tackled by countries worldwide

According to the same press release, “concrete outcomes” were agreed between Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and North America to “strengthen international partnerships to disrupt OIC networks”.

New joint initiatives with France have also been announced to help engage local communities on both sides of the Channel on the dangers of people smuggling gangs and irregular crossings.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper stated:

“Organised immigration crime undermines our security and puts lives at risk. The criminal networks have spread across the globe and no single country can tackle this problem alone.

Today, at the Organised Immigration Crime Summit, the UK has led the way forward by securing international commitments to disrupt and pursue this vile criminal trade in people – part of our Plan for Change to strengthen our borders and keep communities safe.”

UK Government Clamps Down on Illegal Working in ‘Gig Economy’ and Zero-Hour Contract Work

New measures have been announced to clamp down on illegal working within the gig economy and zero-hour contract sectors.

Effective immediately, employers who use workers under these types of flexible working arrangements will be legally required to check employees’ status in the UK.

Failing to do so may incur stiff penalties, such as fines of up to £60,000 per worker, business closures, director disqualifications or prison sentences of up to 5 years.

These new measures are being brought in to help clamp down on potential abuses of immigration and labour systems in the UK, particularly in the gig economy and zero-hour contract sectors, where right to work checks have previously been more lenient. Employers looking to hire traditional full-time or part-time employees are already legally required to carry out right to work checks on potential hires.

The government have also stated that this will help to undermine the operations of people smuggling gangs, some of whom use false promises of work in the UK to entice migrants.

How Can IAS Help With Your UK Visa Application?

IAS have a team of immigration advisers and caseworkers experienced in the field of UK immigration law.

Regardless of where you’re coming from or what your chosen immigration pathway is, we can help you with almost all UK immigration and visa cases, using our years of experience and compassionate customer service to help get you to where you need to go.

We also offer fast-track and urgent application packages if you need to submit your application to a deadline.

Don’t hesitate to reach out for help on your situation today. Call us on +44 (0)333 414 9244 or reach out to us online.