Highly skilled sponsored workers whose employment ends could be given up to six months to find a new job, under proposals in the Autumn Budget delivered on 28 October 2026. At present, a sponsored worker whose employment ends typically faces a 60-day period before their visa is curtailed. The Budget says the government will allow the highest skilled workers to access a curtailment period of up to six months, with the length varying depending on how long they worked in their previous, highly paid job. Implementation is planned for 2027, and the change is not in force today.

The proposal sits within a wider package for highly skilled migration. From spring 2027, the government plans to implement Migration Advisory Committee recommendations to reduce occupation-specific minimum salary requirements from the median wage to the 25th percentile, while updating the general salary threshold in line with wage data. The High Potential Individual route would also expand to graduates from the world's top 150 institutions, with a proportional increase to its cap. Separately, an employer's payment of the Immigration Skills Charge or Certificate of Sponsorship fee will not be treated as a taxable benefit in kind for payments made on or after 28 October 2026, subject to Finance Bill legislation.

What is not yet decided

Key details are not in the Budget document itself. The exact eligibility test for the longer curtailment period, and how the period would vary with previous employment, will only be known when the Home Office publishes a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules. Until that statement is laid before Parliament, sponsored workers should not assume they already have six months, and employers should not promise it. This is general information only, not personal immigration advice.