The Immigration Skills Charge rose 32% for Certificates of Sponsorship assigned from 16 December 2025, taking the standard rate to £1,320 per worker per year (£480 for small and charitable sponsors). But under the Immigration Skills Charge (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/1078), nine research-science and higher-education occupation codes remain fully exempt — meaning most university researchers sponsored on the Skilled Worker visa pay nothing towards the increase.
The Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) is a mandatory Home Office levy paid by UK employers each time they assign a Certificate of Sponsorship to a Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker visa applicant, unless a statutory exemption applies. For sponsor-licence holders in the higher education and research sector, the practical question raised by the December 2025 rise is not “how much more will this cost” but “does this cost apply to us at all” — and for most academic and research posts, the answer is no.
- What changed: the 2026 Immigration Skills Charge increase
- Which occupation codes are exempt from the ISC?
- Which university and R&D roles still have to pay?
- How do sponsors evidence an ISC exemption to UKVI?
- Frequently asked questions
- What this means for sponsor licence compliance
What changed: the 2026 Immigration Skills Charge increase
The ISC increase took effect for Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) assigned on or after 16 December 2025, under the Immigration Skills Charge (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/1078). The rise was first flagged in the government’s 2025 Immigration White Paper and implemented via secondary legislation rather than primary reform, which is why it applied with limited notice mid-financial-year for most institutions.
The rates rose as follows:
| Sponsor type | Rate to 15 Dec 2025 | Rate from 16 Dec 2025 | Additional 6-month block |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium or large sponsor | £1,000 / 12 months | £1,320 / 12 months | £660 (up from £500) |
| Small or charitable sponsor | £364 / 12 months | £480 / 12 months | £240 (up from £182) |
A UK Parliament research briefing (CBP-9859, February 2026) confirms the 32% ISC uplift and notes that individual Certificate of Sponsorship fees rose by 120% in the same period, to £525. Wider Home Office immigration and nationality fees — including Indefinite Leave to Remain, which rose from £3,029 to £3,226 — increased again from 8 April 2026, typically by 6–7%. Sponsors must budget for these as separate, cumulative costs alongside the ISC.
Which occupation codes are exempt from the ISC?
Regulation 4 of the Immigration Skills Charge Regulations 2017, as amended by SI 2025/1078, exempts specific Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 2020) codes listed in the Home Office’s Appendix Skilled Occupations. Nine of these correspond directly to research and higher-education roles.
| SOC code | Occupation | ISC status |
|---|---|---|
| 2111 | Chemical scientists | Exempt |
| 2112 | Biological scientists | Exempt |
| 2113 | Biochemists and biomedical scientists | Exempt |
| 2114 | Physical scientists | Exempt |
| 2115 | Social and humanities scientists | Exempt |
| 2119 | Natural and social science professionals n.e.c. | Exempt |
| 2161 | Research and development managers | Exempt |
| 2162 | Other researchers, unspecified discipline | Exempt |
| 2311 | Higher education teaching professionals | Exempt |
Three further non-academic codes — clergy (2463), sports players (3431) and sports coaches, instructors and officials (3432) — are also exempt under the same regulation, reflecting the same “acute domestic skills shortage” rationale that underpins the research exemptions rather than any HE-specific carve-out.
Two further exemption routes matter for universities specifically:
- Health and Care Worker visa roles are exempt under Regulation 4(2)(d), relevant to university-linked NHS and clinical academic appointments.
- Student-to-Skilled-Worker switchers applying from inside the UK are exempt, covering the common pathway of PhD graduates moving into postdoctoral posts with the same or a new sponsor.
Which university and R&D roles still have to pay?
The exemption list is narrow and code-specific — it does not cover the full range of roles a university sponsors. Professional services, technical and administrative staff sponsored under non-exempt SOC codes pay the full increased ISC, even where they support research directly.
| Role type | Typical SOC code | ISC payable? |
|---|---|---|
| Principal investigator / academic researcher | 2161, 2162, 2111–2119 | No |
| Lecturer / higher education teaching professional | 2311 | No |
| Research software engineer / data scientist | 2136, 2425 | Yes |
| Research administrator or grants manager | 2422, 4159 | Yes |
| University registrar / senior administrator | 2317 | Yes |
| Laboratory technician | 2141, 3111 | Yes |
This distinction matters for institutional budgeting. A university sponsoring a chemistry professor and a research software engineer on the same grant will pay the full £1,320 (or £480) charge for the latter but nothing for the former — a gap that widens further on multi-year CoS periods, where the charge compounds in six-month blocks.
How do sponsors evidence an ISC exemption to UKVI?
Exemption is not automatic in the sense of requiring no action: the Sponsorship Management System calculates the charge based on the SOC code entered when the CoS is assigned, so accuracy at that point is what determines whether the exemption applies. Getting the occupation code wrong — or defaulting to a broader “researcher-adjacent” code that is not on the exempt list — triggers a top-up demand and, on audit, can be treated as a compliance failure rather than a simple correction.
- Confirm the exact SOC 2020 code against the current Appendix Skilled Occupations before assigning the CoS — codes are amended periodically and the exempt list is not identical to the eligible-occupations list.
- Retain the job description, person specification and salary evidence used to justify the code, in case UKVI queries the classification during a sponsor licence audit.
- Do not assume seniority implies exemption: a senior professional-services manager on a high salary is not exempt merely because the role is research-adjacent or PhD-preferred.
- Where a worker changes role within the same institution, reassess the SOC code and ISC liability for the new Certificate of Sponsorship — exemption status is not inherited from a prior post.
For research administration teams managing sponsor licence compliance, this makes SOC-code governance — not just cost forecasting — the operationally critical task created by the December 2025 change.
Frequently asked questions
Has the immigration skills charge gone up?
Yes. The ISC rose 32% for Certificates of Sponsorship assigned from 16 December 2025, under the Immigration Skills Charge (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/1078). The large-sponsor rate increased from £1,000 to £1,320 per worker per year, and the small/charitable rate from £364 to £480.
Are immigration fees going up in 2026?
Yes, separately from the ISC. Most Home Office immigration and nationality fees rose again from 8 April 2026, typically by 6–7%, including the Indefinite Leave to Remain fee moving from £3,029 to £3,226. Sponsors should treat the ISC rise and this later fee round as two distinct, cumulative cost events.
How much is the UK visa fee for 2026?
Visa sponsorship cost is layered: alongside the ISC (£1,320 or £480), sponsors typically also pay a £525 Certificate of Sponsorship fee, the worker’s visa application fee, and the Immigration Health Surcharge — each governed by separate, independently updated fee schedules.
What this means for sponsor licence compliance
For most UK universities, the practical budget impact of the December 2025 ISC rise falls on professional services, technical and non-exempt research-support hires rather than on core academic and research appointments. That makes SOC-code accuracy — checked against the current Appendix Skilled Occupations at the point each CoS is assigned — a higher-value compliance control than headline cost forecasting alone.
Institutions running multi-year, multi-worker sponsorship programmes should audit their occupation-code mapping now: misclassifying an exempt research post under a chargeable administrative code (or vice versa) creates either avoidable cost or exposure to a UKVI top-up demand and audit finding. As Home Office fee schedules continue to move on separate timetables — ISC in December, general fees in April — sponsor licence holders in the research sector gain the most by tracking SOC-code exemption status as a standing compliance item, not a one-off check at the time of the 2025 increase.