Making it easier for international talent to come to the UK

The government’s approach is increasingly focused on attracting highly skilled workers while restricting migration at lower and medium skill levels.

The Global Talent visa is central to this strategy. Since Budget 2025, the endorsed funder pathway has been expanded so that more than 100 R&D-intensive businesses can support leading scientists and engineers coming to work in UK industry. This complements other recent changes intended to increase use of the Global Talent route and make the UK more accessible to international researchers, innovators and technology specialists.

Budget 2026 goes further. The High Potential Individual (HPI) visa is set to be expanded to individuals with eligible qualifications from the top 150 institutions globally, accompanied by a proportional increase in the cap on the scheme. The government has also announced that the graduate visa will be increased to two years for graduates of high-compliance universities where there are strong labour-market outcomes.

Further reforms seek to give both employers and highly skilled employees additional flexibility. Changes to minimum salary requirements are intended to better reflect labour-market conditions in different parts of the UK. The government will also work towards allowing the highest-skilled sponsored workers a visa curtailment period of up to six months, providing more time to secure new employment if their existing sponsorship ends.

Together, the measures are designed to make it easier for UK businesses to recruit and retain international talent.

A valuable tax regime for new arrivals

Immigration is only one part of the UK’s proposition. For qualifying individuals, the Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) regime can provide a significant tax advantage during their first years in the UK.

Introduced on 6 April 2025, FIG is available to qualifying individuals during their first four years of UK tax residence following at least ten consecutive tax years of non-UK residence. A qualifying individual can claim relief so that eligible foreign income and foreign gains are not subject to UK tax.

Crucially, foreign income and gains qualifying for FIG relief can also be brought into and enjoyed in the UK without an additional UK tax charge. This is an important difference from the former remittance basis and considerably simplifies the decision around bringing qualifying offshore wealth into the UK.

For a highly paid internationally mobile executive, for example, UK employment income will ordinarily remain within the UK tax regime. However, that individual may arrive with an existing overseas investment portfolio, foreign property generating rental income or other foreign assets capable of producing income and gains. Where the conditions for FIG relief are met, qualifying foreign income and gains arising during the individual’s four-year FIG period can potentially be relieved from UK taxation. This can make the overall tax position during the first years of UK residence considerably more attractive than simply looking at UK income tax rates in isolation.

There are important conditions. Relief must be claimed, and qualifying income and gains need to be correctly identified and reported. As highlighted in our Foreign Income and Gains article, differences between UK and overseas tax rules can also affect the calculation of the income or gain for which FIG relief is claimed.

The UK is open for business

Budget 2026 therefore provides a joined-up message to internationally mobile talent: The UK wants highly skilled individuals to come here, work here and contribute to the economy.

The government has also announced action on obstacles affecting internationally mobile individuals, including the availability of double tax relief for some UK residents investing through US limited liability companies and measures intended to make it easier for people with existing trusts to move to the UK. It has committed to continue assessing whether the new residence-based tax regime strikes the appropriate balance between international competitiveness, fairness and the public finances.

For internationally mobile executives, entrepreneurs and other high earners, the combination of more accessible routes into the UK and the four-year FIG regime makes the message particularly powerful: The UK is open for business and actively competing for global talent.

If the Budget has raised any questions for you, book your place on our question time webinar this Friday at 9:30am. Alternatively, if you would like any further information or guidance on this topic, get in touch with your usual Kreston Reeves contact or contact us here.