2025 recap: Immigration, settlement rules squeezed options for Indians

Major economies raised salary floors, narrowed visa routes and favoured insiders in 2025, so Indians eyeing 2026 moves need stronger profiles and patience

Work-migration in 2025 moved in one direction across most rich countries: Fewer, higher-paid workers, more checks, and much narrower routes to permanent settlement. For Indians, that meant a tougher year for ordinary students and mid-level staff, and a more rules-heavy environment even for long-term residents.

 

Here is a year-ender overview of what changed in 2025

 

What changed on work visas in 2025?

 

Across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and parts of Europe, governments tightened work migration mainly through three tools: higher salary floors, caps on temporary residents, and tougher compliance.

 

United States 

From late 2025, the work-migration story in the US has been about cost and control:

 

 

On September 19, 2025, a Presidential Proclamation titled Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers was issued. It restricts the issuance of H-1B visas unless the petition is accompanied by a payment of $100,000, for petitions filed after 12:01 a.m. EDT on September 21, 2025.

 

The US Department of Labor also launched “Project Firewall”, using long-dormant powers to open proactive H-1B investigations without waiting for worker complaints, leading to roughly 200 new probes.

 

In Congress, the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act and other Bills pushed for wage floors at or above median pay levels and more limits on offshoring-heavy employers, even if not all proposals have yet become law.

 

For Indian IT and STEM professionals, the message through 2025 has been clear: same visa label, but much higher costs and scrutiny for employers, and therefore fewer casual or low-wage filings.

 

United Kingdom 

The UK under Prime Minister Keir Starmer used 2025 to re-engineer work migration along “high wage, high skill” lines:

 

1. On March 12, 2025, the government published its Immigration White Paper, Restoring control over the immigration system, flagging higher skill and salary thresholds and a more restrictive approach to dependants and graduate routes.

 

2. The key legal mechanism was the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC 997, laid on July 1, 2025, which hard-wired many of these changes into the Skilled Worker and other work routes.

 

The White Paper and subsequent guidance outlined plans to:

• Raise Skilled Worker salary thresholds and narrow the list of eligible roles.

• Close or heavily restrict the Health and Care route to stop it becoming a mass low-wage pathway.

• Shorten the Graduate visa to limit time spent in the UK without clear progression into skilled work.

• Tighten English-language and suitability rules for both work routes and settlement.

 

By November, advisory firms were briefing employers about a proposed doubling of the qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) from five to ten years for most routes, though this still sits in the “proposal / consultation” stage.

 

The net effect showed up quickly in numbers: in the year to June 2025, net migration dropped to around 0.204 million from 0.649 million a year earlier, with notable falls in arrivals for work and study from non-EU countries.

 

Canada

 

Canada started moving away from “grow at all costs” migration in late 2024 and translated that into caps and re-prioritisation across 2025:

 

On October 24, 2024, Ottawa published supplementary information to the 2025–27 Immigration Levels Plan, including, for the first time, targets for temporary residents: 673,650 new arrivals in 2025, 516,600 in 2026, and 543,600 in 2027 for work and study permits combined. International students are set to be about 45 per cent of these new temporary residents, reflecting the national study-permit cap.

 

In November, Canada’s 2026–28 Immigration Levels Plan confirmed a lower permanent residence target of about 0.38 million new PRs in 2026, with similar levels planned through 2028, compared with earlier years when targets exceeded half a million.

 

The 2025 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration outlined a one-time measure to transition up to 33,000 work-permit holders to PR in 2026 and 2027, explicitly rewarding people already in the labour market rather than inviting more new entrants.

 

For would-be migrants in India, this means the entry gate (study and work permits) is narrower, but those already inside Canada have somewhat better odds of moving to PR.

 

Australia

 

Australia used a mix of higher salary thresholds and controlled planning levels:

 

From July 1, 2024, the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) was lifted from AUD 70,000 to AUD 73,150, affecting all new employer-sponsored visas.

 

In March 2025, the Department of Home Affairs announced annual indexation for skilled-visa income thresholds, with a 4.6 per cent rise to apply from July 1, 2025 to the core skilled salary benchmarks, aligning them with average weekly earnings.

 

The Migration Programme planning levels page, updated on September 4, 2025, confirmed a lower permanent intake for 2025–26 than the peak pandemic-era targets, with more of the quota reserved for employer-sponsored and regional visas.

 

Taken together, these changes push Indian applicants towards higher-paid roles and away from entry-level or generic positions, with a premium on employer sponsorship in shortage occupations.

 

Europe and Nordics 

Across continental Europe, the trend was similar: more selectivity for work visas.

 

• Sweden raised its main work-permit salary threshold on June 17, 2025 to SEK 29,680 per month (80 per cent of the updated median wage of SEK 37,100) for new applications. Guidance published in October 2025 set out a further step from June 1, 2026, lifting the threshold to 90 per cent of the median salary, with limited exemptions for shortage-occupation roles.

 

• The OECD’s International Migration Outlook 2025, reviewing policy changes across 2024–25, notes that many OECD countries tightened conditions for temporary worker programmes while expanding highly skilled and shortage-occupation routes, and that intra-company transfers continued to decline.

 

Germany is a partial outlier on work visas: Reforms to its Skilled Immigration Act and the launch of the “Opportunity Card” in June 2024 made it easier for non-EU skilled workers and job-seekers to move, even as settlement rules have tightened slightly.

 

How did settlement and citizenship routes tighten?

 

While salary floors hit new entrants first, 2025 also brought more pressure on people already in destination countries and on those hoping for permanent residence or citizenship.

 

United States: Pauses, permits and paperwork

 

Security-driven politics produced some of the sharpest settlement-route changes in the US in late 2025:

 

On December 2, 2025, the Trump administration announced a pause on all immigration applications (including green cards and naturalisations) filed by individuals from 19 travel-ban countries, following the shooting of two National Guard members near the White House.

 

The directive applies to applicants from countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Libya and Yemen, and mandates re-review of pending cases with fresh interviews and security checks, effectively freezing many family and employment-based applications from those nationalities.

 

Separately, from October 30, 2025, USCIS ended automatic extensions of most Employment Authorisation Documents (EADs) for people renewing work permits, including many H-4 and L-2 dependents, asylum applicants and adjustment-of-status applicants. Those filing after that date no longer get the 540-day auto-extension that previously kept them working while renewals were processed.

 

For Indian families, this means two things: some nationalities now face blanket processing pauses, and EAD renewals have become far riskier, with gaps in work authorisation more likely.

 

United Kingdom: Towards longer, stricter settlement

 

In the UK, 2025 has been about recasting ILR and citizenship as privileges reserved for higher earners with long, clean residence histories:

 

Commentary around the July 2025 Statement of Changes and later Home Office briefings indicates plans to double the standard ILR qualifying period from five to ten years for most economic migrants, making long-term settlement more of a slow burn.

 

New rules and proposals flagged in November 2025 include:

 

• Closure of some “easier” settlement routes, including for Health and Care Workers.

 

• Stricter suitability rules, including wider grounds for refusal based on minor criminality or immigration breaches.

 

• Tougher English-language requirements for permanent status and citizenship.

 

These changes do not shut the door to settlement, but they lengthen the road and raise the risk that a short spell in a lower-paid role or a gap in employment could break the continuity needed for ILR.

 

Germany: Pull in workers, slow down citizenship

 

Germany continued to court skilled workers but sent a cooler signal on fast-tracked naturalisation:

 

Earlier reforms to the Skilled Immigration Act and citizenship law (entering into force in 2024) had shortened the regular residency requirement from eight to five years and allowed more dual citizenship, while introducing new work-based residence permits and the Opportunity Card job-seeker route.

 

On October 8, 2025, parliament rescinded the fast-track three-year citizenship option for exceptionally well-integrated migrants, citing concerns over integration and public unease about immigration. The normal five-year route and dual-citizenship reforms remain.

 

Germany, therefore, still offers a more generous path to citizenship than many peers, but not the ultra-fast track that briefly existed.

 

Canada: More gates for insiders, fewer for newcomers 

For Canada, the settlement story in 2025 is less about outright restriction and more about sequencing:

 

The 2025–27 plan and the forthcoming 2026–28 levels plan both stress that future PR spots will be oriented towards people already in Canada on work or study permits, rather than new arrivals from overseas.

 

The one-time transition for up to 33,000 workers to PR in 2026–27 is an example: it rewards people already filling labour-shortage roles, while the tighter caps on study and work permits from abroad make it harder to join that queue in the first place.

 

This model effectively treats Canada as a closed system for many, where the best chance of PR is to get in early under shrinking temporary-resident quotas and then compete hard for limited transition windows.

 

Did any routes become more attractive in 2025? 

Even as mainstream work and settlement routes tightened, some countries extended long-term or “elite” pathways.

 

UAE: Golden Visa and sector expansions 

The United Arab Emirates continued to use its Golden Visa to attract high-value residents:

 

The official UAE government portal notes that the Golden Visa, introduced in 2019, offers ten-year self-sponsored residency to investors and skilled professionals, allowing them to live, work and study without a local sponsor.

 

In July 2025, UAE authorities widened eligibility to more professional groups, including healthcare workers, educators, specialists in digital media and gaming, and professionals connected to the luxury yachting sector, among others.

 

In November 2025, new consular services were rolled out for Golden Visa holders, including an electronic “return permit” allowing those who lose or damage their passport abroad to obtain a travel document in roughly 30 minutes at no cost, plus expanded crisis-support services.

 

For Indian high-net-worth individuals or senior professionals, the UAE remains one of the few major destinations where long-term residency became easier, not harder, through 2025.

 

Germany’s work routes 

Despite the rollback of fast-track citizenship, Germany’s 2024-25 reforms - including easier recognition of vocational qualifications, expanded Western Balkans quotas and the Opportunity Card – have made it one of the more accessible European countries for skilled non-EU workers, particularly in engineering, manufacturing, IT and healthcare.

 

How did these shifts affect Indians on the move in 2025? 

For Indians, 2025’s work-migration curbs and settlement tightening translated into three broad realities:

 

1. “Ordinary” routes got squeezed 

• Generic business or IT roles on H-1B in the US became riskier as employers faced a $100,000 petition fee and tougher enforcement.

• In the UK, middle-income roles, care work and unsponsored graduate jobs became weaker springboards to settlement as salary thresholds rose and graduate visas shortened.

• In Canada and Australia, lower-paid temporary roles and generic study programmes no longer guarantee a progression to PR, given caps and higher salary thresholds.

 

2. Those already inside got more anxious 

• The end of automatic EAD extensions in the US created job-loss risks for thousands of H-4 and L-2 dependents, many of them Indian spouses.

• Settlement-period proposals in the UK and tougher suitability rules raised fears that a single break in earnings or minor breach could derail ILR plans.

• Canada’s message that temporary resident numbers must fall made post-study and post-work transitions feel more competitive.

 

3. Top-tier professionals and investors still found openings 

UAE Golden Visas, Germany’s Skilled Immigration Act framework and Canada’s sector-specific PR transitions all privilege people in shortage occupations, on higher salaries, or with substantial capital.

 

What should prospective migrants expect in 2026?

 

If you are planning to move abroad in 2026, the 2025 pattern offers some clear signals.

 

1. Expect higher salary thresholds – and plan your profile accordingly

 

In the UK, further uplifts to Skilled Worker salary levels and the Immigration Salary List are widely expected as the government doubles down on its promise to keep net migration near or below current levels.

 

Sweden will raise its work-permit salary requirement from 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the median wage from June 1, 2026, and other EU states are likely to follow similar patterns of indexation.

 

Australia has already committed to annual indexation for skilled-visa thresholds, which means July 1, 2026 is likely to bring another bump, however modest.

 

For Indian professionals, that means upgrading roles, qualifications and pay before you apply, rather than relying on being just above the minimum.

 

2. Watch for insider-favouring PR and settlement windows

 

Canada’s 33,000-person one-off PR transition for workers in 2026–27 shows how future settlement opportunities will reward those already in the system, especially in shortage sectors.

 

Germany is likely to continue using its Opportunity Card and skilled-worker routes to attract specific profiles; once in the country, the five-year standard citizenship route still compares quite well to many peers, even without the three-year fast track.

 

The UK’s “earned settlement” framework, once finalised, will probably tie ILR more closely to long-term salary and sponsorship history, rewarding those who can hold a continuous, well-paid Skilled Worker role for a decade.

 

Anyone planning to study abroad in 2026 should therefore pick destinations, courses and employers with a realistic line-of-sight to PR under these insider-focused rules.

 

3. Prepare for longer and more uncertain processing

 

With the US pausing applications from 19 travel-ban countries and tightening vetting, and with USCIS under pressure from multiple rule changes at once, processing times for some green-card and EAD categories are likely to stay volatile through 2026.

 

The UK’s overhauled asylum and enforcement framework, introduced through a series of rule changes in November 2025, is meant to speed removals but could initially add complexity for anyone with mixed immigration histories.

 

OECD analysis suggests that even where headline immigration numbers remain high, policy churn and backlogs are becoming a structural feature of migration management in 2024–25, and that is unlikely to reverse in a single year.

 

Indian applicants should build in more time buffers for every stage: document collection, language tests, employer sponsorship, and the final visa or PR decision.

 

4. Tilt towards shortage occupations and “friendly” schemes

 

Healthcare, engineering, advanced manufacturing, green energy, AI and cybersecurity remain central in shortage lists across Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia; applicants in these sectors should track country-specific salary thresholds and point systems closely.

 

The UAE Golden Visa, Germany’s Opportunity Card and targeted Canadian PR pilots will remain important options for high-earning professionals, entrepreneurs and investors who are mobile and willing to consider less traditional destinations.