Immigration update – June 2026

Cybersecurity on the Sponsorship Management System (SMS)

The Home Office has reported an increase in phishing emails sent to licensed sponsors. These emails generally alert recipients to new messages in the SMS and threaten compliance action if users do not log in and act.

The recommendations are:

• always log in to SMS from.gov.uk  
• never share your SMS password or user ID with anyone  
• never share your personal information, such as your date of birth 
• never click on links in emails  
• regularly review Level 1 and Level 2 users and deactivate where appropriate.  

Sponsor licence holders who believe they may have received an email that is not genuine should contact the Business Helpdesk on [email protected].

It is very important for sponsors to keep their SMS secure. Having it compromised could have serious consequences for the business and employees sponsored on the licence.

Home Office extends the use of expired Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) from 18 to 24 months

The Home Office has updated its transitional guidance on BRPs, extending the period in which an expired BRP can be used for certain administrative identity checks from 18 months to 24 months after the card’s expiry date.

However, this change applies only to specific processes such as verifying one’s identity via the UK Immigration: ID Check app or generating share codes for work and rent checks. It is not reinstating BRPs as valid immigration documents. The extension is part of wider transitional arrangements as the UK continues to phase out physical BRP cards.

This extension provides additional time for individuals to access and use their digital status records. However, all UK visa holders should ensure they have set up an eVisa account, and that the account shows the correct personal information and immigration permission. More information can be found in the UKVI guide to setting up an eVisa account.

Universities face ban on international students over visa abuse

The Home Office has announced a new enforcement framework for UK universities recruiting international students who require student visas, stating that institutions could face restrictions or even loss of the ability to recruit international students if they fail to comply with tightened visa integrity rules.

Universities will be assessed under a strengthened compliance system with stricter thresholds for visa refusal rates, enrolment rates, and course completion rates. Institutions that fall into the lowest compliance category (“red” rating) will be required to implement improvement plans and may face limits on recruiting international students. Those that do not improve risk losing their sponsorship licence entirely, which would prevent them from enrolling international students requiring visas.

The Home Office states the policy is intended to tackle visa abuse and misuse of the student route, including cases where students allegedly enter the UK under study visas but later fail to engage with their studies or attempt to use the route for other immigration purposes.

While the announcement primarily targets universities, colleges and independent schools are also affected by the tightened compliance requirements.

It is therefore important for all student visa sponsor licence holders to engage with the new requirements and put processes and systems in place that will ensure the new targets are met.

Priority and Super Priority Visa services expanded worldwide

The Home Office has expanded its Priority Visa (PV) and Super Priority Visa (SPV) services to almost all locations worldwide.  

Customers who choose the PV process will usually receive a decision within five UK working days. For Family visa applications, where cases can be more complex, decisions are typically provided within 30 UK working days. For those requiring an even faster turnaround, the SPV service offers a next-working-day decision. 

The expanded rollout has been made possible in part by the Home Office’s transition to a more digital system, including the shift to eVisas and the phasing out of physical vignettes. The latest phase of this came into effect on 20 May 2026, introducing changes to convert all UK visa applications to an eVisa outcome upon issuance.    

International customers interested in using the PV or SPV services can check availability in their location by visiting the relevant VFS Global Visa Application Centre page. 

This expansion should give customers greater choice, flexibility and control over how quickly their visa applications are processed, which should assist in planning relocations to the UK with more confidence.

New concierge service and visa scheme announced for UK’s fastest-growing firms

The Home Office has announced new measures to help companies of the future to grow into the UK’s first trillion-dollar firms. 

A new visa reimbursement scheme has been introduced to help high-potential firms hire the best talent available.

Businesses can apply for funding up to £25,000/year, with a maximum award of £5,000. for each international hire and their dependents. There is limited funding available and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis: applications are processed in the order they are received, and grants are awarded until the total budget is fully allocated. 

The scheme will reimburse eligible visa fees incurred on or after 9 June 2026.  

The Visa Fees Reimbursement Scheme for Scale Ups is open to UK-based scale-ups operating in the clean energy, life sciences, and digital and technology sectors. To qualify, a business must meet all the following criteria. 

• Be a UK-based scale-up: an enterprise that achieves an average annualised growth rate exceeding 20 per cent in either employment or turnover over a continuous three-year period (the observation period), starting with at least 10 employees at the beginning of this period. 
• Operate in at least one of the three priority sectors in the scope, as defined in the Industrial Strategy IS-8 Sectors.

Businesses that believe they’re eligible for a visa fee refund can apply through the Visa Fees Reimbursement Scheme for Scale-ups.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application within 30 working days of submission, and payment will be issued thereafter for successful applications.

In addition, the Government has unveiled a bespoke concierge service to help businesses of the future start, scale, and stay in the UK. This new service, offering tiered support directly from Home Office contacts, should accelerate the growth of the most promising UK scale-ups by cutting through some of the bureaucracy associated with the UK immigration system and making the visa application process not just less expensive but also faster.

The Home Office hopes this new approach will help unlock deals, unblock delays, and create jobs, growth, and opportunities for businesses across the UK by resolving challenges related to costs, access to global talent, regulation, access to finance, procurement, and other barriers to growth.

It will be developed and built as it progresses, with input from entrepreneurs and investors.

It remains to be seen how this process will work ‘on the ground’. Visa concessions for scale-up businesses are already available but are widely underutilised due to the complexity of the application process for the sponsor licence.

The Office for Investment (OfI) announces a fast-track referral scheme for UK Expansion Worker sponsor licence applications

Businesses that are receiving ongoing support from the OfI may be able to get a faster decision on their UK Expansion Worker sponsor licence application from the Home Office. If accepted, processing time may take around 10 working days (versus the standard eight weeks). 

To be eligible, businesses must: 

1. be receiving ongoing support from the OfI; and 

2. operate in one of the eight sectors identified as a priority under the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy; and 

3. meet at least one of the following growth criteria: 

• the business has received at least £1 million venture capital or institutional investment; or 
• the business has committed at least £2 million capital investment for UK expansion; or 
• the business is part of a government-recognised, high-growth programme (for example, the Global Entrepreneur Programme). 

Applications referred by OfI to Home Office for fast-tracking that are later identified by the Home Office as complex will not be processed within 10 working days and will be subject to standard timelines.

Further details are available in the OfI fast-track referral guidance for UK Expansion Worker sponsor licences.

While it is likely that the criteria will only apply to a small number of businesses, any reduction in processing times for UK Expansion Worker sponsor licence applications is appreciated, especially for high-growth businesses that tend to want to move fast to retain a competitive advantage in their market.