If you are a UK tech founder sponsoring overseas engineers, there is a rule change that kicked in on 8 April 2026 that you probably have not heard about. You should. From that date, the Home Office stopped assessing sponsored worker salaries annually. Now they assess them in every pay
Yash Dubal
If you are a UK tech founder sponsoring overseas engineers, there is a rule change that kicked in on 8 April 2026 that you probably have not heard about. You should.
From that date, the Home Office stopped assessing sponsored worker salaries annually. Now they assess them in every pay period. One month below threshold is a compliance breach. Not averaged across the year. Not a warning. A breach.
That might sound like a technicality. It is not.
Why this hits founders harder than anyone else
Big companies have compliance teams for this. You probably do not. You signed the Certificate of Sponsorship yourself, you are running payroll, and you are also raising the next round. Compliance sits somewhere near the bottom of the list — until it does not….
