HC 259: Skilled Worker and work route changes laid on 9 July 2026

Statement of changes HC 259 was laid on 9 July 2026. Most changes start on 3 August 2026. For the Skilled Worker route, it ties the prison officer dates in SW 4.2(d)(ii) and SW 6.1(g)(i) to certificates of sponsorship, and adds an immigration bail exception. It adds neonatal leave to the Scale-up earnings requirement.

What’s changing

For the Skilled Worker route, there are no changes to Appendix Skilled Occupations, Appendix Immigration Salary List or any salary figure. These are the changes in Appendix Skilled Worker:

Rule	Change
SW 2.2	Replaced. If applying for permission to stay, the applicant must not be in breach of immigration laws (except where the Exceptions for overstayers section of Part Suitability applies). The applicant must also not be on immigration bail, except where the Exceptions for overstayers section applies
SW 4.2(d)(ii)	“the date of application is before 1 January 2028” becomes “the application has been made using a certificate of sponsorship issued by the sponsor to the applicant before 1 January 2028”
SW 6.1(g)(i)	“the date of application is before 1 January 2027” becomes “the application has been made using a certificate of sponsorship issued by the sponsor to the applicant before 1 January 2027”
SW 14.3B(d)	The cross-reference “SW 14.2(a)” becomes “SW 14.2A(a)”
SW 20.2, SW 27.2, SW 38.2	Replaced with the same immigration bail exception as SW 2.2

The explanatory memorandum says the Part Suitability change makes sure of this: where an applicant can apply under the Exception for Overstayers (SUI13.1), their application is not refused just because they are on immigration bail. It can be considered on its merits.

Who it affects

Skilled Worker prison officers. SW 4.2(d) and SW 6.1(g) apply to the SOC 2020 code 3314 Prison service officers (below principal officer), introduced in HC 1691. See salary thresholds and the Skilled Worker visa guides.

Applicants on work routes. The same immigration bail exception applies across many work routes (see below).

Scale-up workers. Neonatal leave is added to the allowed absences (see below).

Children of Graduate route holders. See the Graduate section below.

When it starts

Date	Changes that start
30 July 2026	Appendix EU (APP EU1) and Appendix EU (Family Permit) (APP EU(FP)1)
3 August 2026	All other changes, including Appendix Skilled Worker (APP SW1 to APP SW7), Global Business Mobility, Global Talent, High Potential Individual, Scale-up (APP SCU1 to APP SCU6) and Innovator Founder

A transitional rule applies to some groups of paragraphs, including APP SCU2, APP SCU4 and APP GTP1 to APP GTP6. An application made before 3 August 2026 is decided under the Immigration Rules in force on 2 August 2026. (Implementation section)

What changed for other work routes?

Scale-up

SCU 8.2(a) and SCU 18.3(a) add “neonatal,” after “parental,”.

The explanatory memorandum says this adds neonatal leave as an allowed absence for the earnings requirement on the Scale-up route. It applies to both permission to stay and settlement. It brings the route in line with the Skilled Worker route.

SCU 2.2, SCU 14.2, SCU 21.2 and SCU 31.2 carry the same immigration bail exception as SW 2.2. See the Scale-up route.

Graduate

GR 9.4A(d) is new. A dependant applicant must be a child born in the UK to a Graduate who has existing permission to stay on the Graduate route.

The explanatory memorandum says a child born in the UK during a parent’s current Graduate permission can apply as a dependant and be granted permission in line with the parent. It says the change does not widen dependant eligibility from overseas, and does not create a route to settlement. See the Graduate route.

Immigration bail exception across work routes

The same immigration bail exception is put into the suitability paragraphs of these routes:

• Global Business Mobility (APP GBM1 to APP GBM10)
• Minister of Religion (APP MOR1 to APP MOR4)
• Representative of an Overseas Business (APP ROB1 to APP ROB4)
• UK Ancestry (APP UKA1 to APP UKA4)
• Global Talent (APP GT1 to APP GT4)
• High Potential Individual (APP HPI1, APP HPI2)
• Start-up (APP SU1, APP SU2)
• Innovator Founder (APP INNF1 to APP INNF4)
• International Sportsperson (APP ISP1 to APP ISP4)
• Domestic Workers in a Private Household
• Youth Mobility Scheme
• Creative Worker
• Religious Worker
• Charity Worker
• International Agreement
• Government Authorised Exchange

Global Talent: Prestigious Prizes

The explanatory memorandum says the W H Pierce Prize was awarded by the Society for Applied Microbiology. It is now the WH Pierce Global Impact in Microbiology Prize, awarded by Applied Microbiology International. Various errors in prize names are also corrected. See the Global Talent route.

Other changes in this statement

• Diplomatic Visa Arrangement visit visa: now also for holders of Indian diplomatic passports.
• Part 8: paragraphs 297 and 298 are changed. A child can join a settled “close relative” where the child has no other family in the UK who could reasonably support or care for them. The changes also make clear when a child can join a settled parent whose other parent has limited leave.
• Appendix FM: where a protection sponsor has been granted permission to stay for 30 months, a partner granted permission under Appendix FM is granted permission in line with the rest of the sponsor’s grant. The care requirement in Appendix Children is applied to the Appendix FM child route.
• Appendix EU (Family Permit): fingerprint biometrics are no longer needed for an EU Settlement Scheme travel permit.
• Appendix EU: a person whose pre-settled status as a family member of a qualifying British citizen was changed into another form of permission can still apply for settled status.
• Appendix HM Armed Forces and Appendix International Armed Forces and International Civilian Employees: children of single serving personnel who are exempt from immigration control can be granted permission under the Rules. Dependants of exempt international service personnel must apply for entry clearance.
• Appendix Electronic Travel Authorisation: suspended sentences of 12 months or more are added to the criminality grounds in ETA 2.2(a) and ETA 5.2(a). Appendix Child Student: the carer criminality rules now match Part Suitability.
• Appendix Statelessness: settlement applications refer to the “Settle in the UK (Other)” form (SET(O)).
• Appendix Administrative Review: Appendix ECAA Settlement is added to the routes that can have an administrative review.
• Part 11 (paragraph 339NA): asylum interviews may be left out for EEA and Swiss nationals and where the claim is clearly unfounded. Part 13: suspended sentences of at least 12 months, where the person was convicted on or after 22 March 2026.
• Small changes to correct paragraph references and drafting errors.