The UK Government has published a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules with some positive changes to the EU Settlement Scheme and outlines its Industrial Strategy with some interesting developments relating to UK immigration.
Applications for Settled Status under the EU Settlement Scheme will be subject to simpler continuous residence requirements. The Industrial Strategy sets out a potential relaxation to the requirements for globally talented people and businesses to relocate to the UK in order to encourage more applications.
Statement of Changes
There are some minor updates to the Immigration Rules, but the main change is in relation to the EU Settlement Scheme and applications for Settled Status.
The UK is committed to switching as many people as possible with Pre-Settled Status (the 5 year, automatically extended residence permit) to Settled Status (Indefinite Leave to Remain). Many people will be automatically upgraded if records indicate that an individual has spent at least five continuous years in the UK or individuals can make a free application.
Under the current rules, continuous residence is broken where an individual spends more than 6 months in any 12-month period outside of the UK (there are limited exceptions for study, military service, medical reasons, work placements).
Under the new rules, from 16 July 2025, applicants will be able to maintain their pre-settled status and be eligible for settled status if they have been resident in the UK for at least 30 months in total in the most recent 60-month period. This can be any 30 months within that 60-month period.
This simplifies the rules somewhat and gives more flexibility to applicants who spent more than 6 months outside of the UK in a single period, but their overall time in the UK is at least 30 months in the last 60 months.
Conversely, those with Pre-Settled Status who have “clearly ceased to meet the requirements” will have their status removed. This will impact people who have permanently left the UK with no intention of returning. It is not clear how the Home Office will determine who falls into this category and they have indicated that they will speak to stakeholders “later in the year”.
Industrial Strategy and UK Immigration
The Government has also unveiled its latest Industrial Strategy, billing it as a “muscular approach” to economic growth, one that places immigration and skills reform at the heart of Britain’s post-Brexit economic engine. While the political rhetoric signals ambition, the details reveal a targeted effort to align high-skilled migration and domestic workforce development with key frontier sectors.
Below, we summarise the key announcements affecting workforce mobility, global talent recruitment, and business travel:
New exemptions to immigration routes
The government has said that it wants to encourage highly skilled migration to the UK and is keen to make the Global Talent, High Potential Individual, Innovator Founder visa routes as attractive as possible. These are underutilised routes due to their complexity and high threshold requirements. A loosening of the rules would be welcome, but the government has announced similar initiatives many times before with limited success.
Extending access for mobility of UK professionals
The strategy outlines ambitions to facilitate temporary mobility for UK professionals, particularly in sectors requiring short-term placements abroad. This builds on mobility and professional qualification recognition agreements struck at the May 2025 UK-EU Summit and through other trade arrangements.
While the strategy sends a clear signal that attracting and retaining global talent remains a government priority, many of the measures remain contingent on future reviews and advisory input. The balance between immediate skills shortages and long-term domestic capability building will be closely watched, particularly as visa reforms and exemption lists move from political promise to policy execution.
For a deeper discussion on the above, please reach out to your Vialto Partners point of contact, or alternatively:
Lyudmyla Davies
Partner (Solicitor)
Ian Robinson
Partner
Andrea Als
Director (Solicitor)
Tom Marsom
Director (Solicitor)
Lucy Vaux
Senior Manager (Solicitor)
Awale Olad
Senior Manager
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