Over 10,000 Nigerians working on Certificate of Sponsorship or Skilled Worker visas may be deported at the end of their agreement with their sponsors, following the United Kingdom government’s delisting of over 100 jobs, including skilled worker roles, from CoS eligibility.
Feelers from London revealed that this new reform, which takes effect from July 22, 2025, is part of the UK’s efforts to control immigration and tighten the criteria for Skilled Worker visas. These changes involve increasing the skills requirement to RQF Level 6, which means only jobs at the degree level now qualify for new Skilled Worker sponsorship from overseas.
As part of this reform, 121 job roles, many of which were previously classified as mid-skill level (RQF 3–5), have been officially removed from eligibility. These roles are not listed on either the new Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List, effectively making them ineligible for new sponsorship.
The scrapped jobs encompass a wide range of industries, including hospitality, childcare, trades, creative arts, agriculture, health associate roles, and administrative work.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper says the move to implement sweeping immigration reforms is to decrease net migration and cultivate a workforce based on domestic skills.
“These new rules mean stronger controls to bring migration down… to ensure we focus on investing in skills and training here in the UK,” he said.
Skilled workers with new visa applicants looking to come to the UK to work in these 121 occupations can no longer do so, while employers who regularly sponsor workers in these roles must now look for alternatives or invest in domestic recruitment. Besides, current Skilled Worker visa holders in the UK who wish to switch to one of the excluded roles could face challenges unless they meet the transition rules.
Some of the delisted jobs include managers and proprietors in agriculture, forestry, hospitality, and logistics, SOC 1211–1258, health, community, and welfare roles such as dispensing opticians, pharmaceutical technicians, youth and community workers, and counsellors, SOC 3211–3224, protective service roles like police officers, sergeants and below, fire service officers, and prison officers, SOC 3312–3314, as well as creative and performing arts professionals, including artists, authors, translators, actors, dancers, photographers, and interior or fashion designers, SOC 3411–3429, among others.
The new regulations also increased the general Skilled Worker salary threshold to £41,700 or higher, depending on the role, while health and care roles remained at £25,600. However, employers in health and care roles must show the salary after all deductions, including accommodation or transport, meaning that the £25,600 is the minimum amount to be received by any of their employees after all deductions.
The new regulation means that many roles previously eligible for the CoS, such as entry-level IT and customer service, no longer qualify unless employers raise pay substantially in line with the new regulations., The UK government has also increased the minimum skill level to Level 6, equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree level, while previously eligible Level 3–5 roles, including some administrative, technical support, and care supervisor roles, may now be excluded.