The UK Immigration Skills Charge (“ISC”) is a fee
that UK employers must pay for each migrant worker that is
sponsored in the Skilled Worker or Global Business Mobility – Senior or
Specialist Worker categories, unless an exemption applies.
1. Overview of the Immigration Skills Charge
The ISC was introduced on 6 April 2017. It is payable at the
time that a Certificate of Sponsorship (“CoS”)
is assigned to a migrant worker, where they are contracted to work
for more than six months if applying to come to the UK, or for any
amount of time if applying from within the UK.
The amount sponsors are required to pay is specified in the Schedule to the Immigration Skills Charge
Regulations 2017. However, the recent White Paper
“Restoring Control of the Immigration
System”, published in May 2025, sets out
that the fees are set to increase by 32% to bring the ISC in line
with inflation. Previously, it has not been increased since its
implementation in 2017. No set date for
