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In December, Home Secretary James Cleverly announced future changes to visa rules aimed at reducing immigration numbers.
These include increasing the salary threshold (standard minimum annual salary) for skilled worker visas from £26,200 to £38,700 per year.
The news is shocking. How do overseas construction professionals and graduates who need visas earn such high salaries? Does this spell the end for almost all non-British architects who want to work in this country?
At the time, architects were still listed on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL), which was soon renamed the Immigration Salary List (ISL). Anyone on the list (including architects in this case) can receive 80% of the current going rate of £26,320 (or £21,056). The prevailing wage rate refers to the minimum wage for a specific occupation code and is determined by the Migration Advisory Committee MAC.
The new threshold of £38,700 will come into effect on 4 April 2024 for all new applications.Last month, things got even more complicated,MAC It is recommended that architects be removed from the immigration payroll.
I need to know why MAC removed architects from the list. Do government experts agree there will no longer be shortages?
In 2019, when it was recommended that architects be included in the ISL, they were ranked seventh out of the 105 most in-demand occupations.
Has the world changed so much in five years?
In fact, the government’s reasoning has nothing to do with talent shortages; This is because senior civil servants believe the average salary for architects is higher than £38,700. If true, this means that most overseas professionals earn enough to meet the new salary requirements for skilled worker visas.
They explain it in detail here: “The following… occupations are not recommended for inclusion in the ISL as their occupation-specific threshold (defined by the median salary) is above £38,700 and therefore will not receive any salary discount if they are included in the ISL.
This was a wake-up call for me. I have been in the construction field for about five years. Most construction professionals earn around £37,000 a year, which is £1,700 less than the government median. So, where does MAC get its data?
After reviewing previous reports, I discovered that the data used by the committee came from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) – certainly a fairly reliable source.
I dug deeper. After opening so many Excel spreadsheets that I nearly lost my mind, I found the right one, titled “Income and Hours Worked, Occupation.”
It read: “Architect Code 2451 – Median annual salary £43,617.”
I’m glad I found it but confused by the numbers, which don’t reflect reality.
Based on these figures, the council considers that 75% of architects earn more than £34,153 a year and 50% earn more than £43,617 a year. How did they arrive at these numbers? What professional titles and qualification levels are included?
This number obviously does not take into account entry-level positions such as architectural assistants, and is higher than my opinion of architect salaries.
What worries me is that the figures the government relies on do not accurately reflect wages across the construction industry. Do they think the industry is healthier than it actually is? Are we missing out on government support or programs to help boost wages as a result?
What are the possible consequences of removing an architect from the ISL?
London is probably the only place that can afford the starting salary of £38,700 required for work visa approval (excluding recent graduates and third-year students).
Does this mean that most construction professionals will only be looking for work in London and that the rest of the UK will miss out on talent?
According to a government review of the shortage occupation list, only 87 skilled worker visas were issued between 2021 and 2023 (construction and urban planning technicians – the closest number I could find), representing just 0.1% of the workforce.
Why are so few visas issued when the occupation is on the shortage occupation list and there are many graduates and overseas construction professionals looking to move to the UK? It doesn’t add up.
Through conversations with my connections, I learned how challenging it is for overseas professionals to find clinics that offer them work and are willing to fund them. The biggest obstacle job seekers face is a lack of UK experience, but the problems don’t stop there.
Obtaining a job offer is the first hurdle, and the second is getting the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) application submitted by the employer approved. I found that in 2018, the success rate of visa sponsorship applications was only 5%.
MAC’s first comprehensive review of the Shortage Occupations List from May 2019 revealed: “Tier 2 (General) has a very low uptake.”
Stakeholders mentioned that the rejection rate of applications was high. We were unable to obtain data to verify this. However, in 2018, building The magazine reports: “Figures obtained by law firm Eversheds Sutherland from the Home Office show that between November last year and April this year, six architects were granted work visas under the government’s restricted certificate of sponsorship scheme. During this period, architects filed 111 applications were received.
Companies need to register as a sponsor, which costs between £536 and £1,476, and pay a fee of £239 per certificate. They are also subject to extensive government audits to ensure their skilled workers are not being exploited. With an acceptance rate of only 6% and the amount of work required, it’s clear that visa sponsorship isn’t worth it for many companies.
While changes to skilled worker visas won’t help, the situation for overseas construction professionals looking to find work in the UK is already so dire that the industry is unlikely to see much impact.
This was just the final nail in the coffin for them. The main impact will be fewer applications from overseas professionals and fewer international students wanting to study architecture in the UK.
I understand the reasoning behind changes to immigration visa rules, which are designed to reduce immigration numbers and protect employment opportunities for UK residents. But it would be concerning if MAC’s findings were based on incorrect data.
I can’t find any information on whether the government and MAC will hold stakeholder engagement, calls for evidence, stakeholder roundtables, etc. before or after implementation.
I can only hope that the RIBA will discover this and provide evidence to the government to correct the decision to remove “Architects – All Jobs” from the ISL.
Aylin Round is the founder of ArchJobs
Explainer – General Salary Thresholds and Prevailing Wage Rates
Nicolas Rollason, Partner, Kingsley Napley LLP
Given that architects will not appear on immigration salary lists, there are two things to consider here: the general salary threshold and the prevailing rate for the relevant occupation code.
General salary threshold
According to what the Home Office has said so far, there will still be a 20 per cent discount on the general salary threshold for people switching from a graduate visa to a skilled worker visa on or after April 4. The same applies to people transitioning from students to skilled workers and people under the age of 26. All these people are called newcomers. From 4 April, the new general salary threshold will be £38,700, so for new entrants the minimum salary will be £30,960 (80% of £38,700).
run rate
There is a separate requirement that the person must be paid the prevailing rate for the relevant occupation code. There is a 30 per cent discount on current rates for new entrants, including those switching from graduate students to skilled workers, and the Home Office says this will continue.
From 4 April, current rates for architects in occupation code 2451 are likely to be around £45,894 per year. We don’t know the exact figure as the Home Office may round it up.
This means that for a new entrant into the 2451 Architects profession, the going rate will be approximately £32,125.80 (70% of £45,894).
Both requirements must be met – the general salary threshold and the prevailing wage rate – so in effect from 4 April the minimum wage for graduates turning into skilled workers is Occupation code 2451 Architect Approximately £32,125. We’ll know the exact numbers once the new rules are released on March 14th.
Whatever the final figure is, our experience tells us that many companies, particularly smaller and regional companies, will not be able to sponsor these new graduates who qualify.
They will have to turn away foreign graduates who need higher salaries than their current graduate programs allow.
The only way to acquire these talents is to increase their salaries.
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