The Home Office and HM Prison and Probation Service have agreed to extend the scope of a temporary exemption to visa rules for skilled workers that will enable prison officers who are non-UK nationals to stay in their jobs despite failing to reach minimum earning levels.
In July last year the Home Office raised the salary threshold for a skilled worker visa from £38,700 to £41,700, threatening the ability of more than 2,500 prison officers recruited mostly from Africa to get their visas renewed.
The Prison Officers Association warned that losing so many staff – principally from Nigeria and Ghana – would have a “catastrophic effect on prison stability”. The union successfully lobbied for an exemption for prison officers and secured a temporary measure allowing those who earn £33,400 a year to qualify for the skilled worker visa or an extension of up to three years.
This also allows people on other visa routes, such as graduates or students, to be considered for sponsorship.
An update on the rules for skilled-worker visas published by the Home Office last month confirms that the salary exemption for prison officers will continue until the end of 2027 and that the earnings floor will be reduced to £31,600 to support national-level recruitment and the retention of prison officers.
The amendment to the earnings floor aligns the exemption criteria with the lowest “going rate” for prison service officers below “principal officer” occupation. The minimum salary needed for sponsorship as a skilled worker in such roles – which include prison officers and operational support grades is £31,600. The operational support grade is the lowest grade in HM Prison and Probation Service, with a starting salary of £29,000-£35,000 for a 37-hour week.
The POA said the move “mitigates the risk that the routine annual uplift to skilled worker salary thresholds (aligned to ONS statistics) could otherwise reduce the practical benefit of the exemption for newly recruited or lower-paid prison officers outside London”.
In its update, the organisation said the skills-related elements of the “skilled worker” exemption for prison officers remain unchanged.