Headline

Japa: 10 New Changes Nigerians, Other Foreigners Should Know Before Relocating To UK

Published

2 years ago

March 14, 2024

In its bid to cut the influx of migration, the United Kingdom, UK, has made some changes in the visa schemes offered to Nigerians and other foreigners.

On Monday, the UK announced that foreign health workers and caregivers would not be allowed to bring their dependants with their work visas.

The Secretary of State for the Home Department, James Cleverly disclosed this, reiterating it was part of the plan to check high migration.

In another move, the UK, Thursday, said orders have been laid in the Parliament to increase the family visa minimum income requirement.

“This will ensure people only bring dependants to the UK they can financially support,” the Home Office said.

Cleverly said in the X account of the Home Office, “Migration is too high. We have to bring the numbers down to create a fairer system for the British people.”

Considering these changes, in this article, Vanguard reveals new 10 changes that foreign nationals should know before relocating to the UK.

Some of the rules affected the family and work visas for 2024.

According to the House of Commons, “Some of the changes have come into force and most of the rest will by 11 April 2024, in accordance with two sets of changes to the Immigration Rules released on 19 February and 14 March.”

Below are the 10 latest changes implemented by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak-led UK government:

1. Social care workers are no longer permitted to bring families (that is, spouses and children) on their visas.

2. The minimum salary to be sponsored for a Skilled Worker visa is increasing, with the baseline minimum rising from £26,200 to £38,700 (but not for the Health and Care Worker visa, which includes social care, or for education workers on national pay scales).

3. Changes to the Shortage Occupation List to reduce the number of jobs where it will be possible to fund someone for a Skilled Worker visa on less than the usual minimum salary (which is the main purpose of the list).

4. The minimum income normally required to sponsor someone for a spouse/partner visa is rising in stages from £18,600 per year to £29,000 and ultimately around £38,700.

5. A review of the Graduate visa, a two-year unsponsored work permit for overseas graduates of British universities.

6. The ban on newly arriving care workers bringing immediate family has been in place since 11 March 2024.

7. The Skilled Worker minimum salary increases will happen on 4 April 2024.

8. An interim Immigration Salary List, replacing the Shortage Occupation List, will also come in on 4 April 2024; the list will be reviewed later.

9. The spouse/partner visa minimum income will first increase to £29,000 on 11 April 2024; to around £34,500 at an unspecified time later in 2024; and finally to around £38,700 “by early 2025”.

10. The review of the Graduate visa has begun, with the Home Secretary asking for a report by 14 May 2024.

Headline

Strait Of Hormuz: US Announces Sanctions Against Iran

Published

8 minutes ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States Treasury has announced sanctions against Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority.

Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, said this in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement extended the threat of sanctions to anyone paying the fees, saying they may be providing support to and receiving services from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and therefore may be exposed to sanctions risk.

“The Iranian military’s latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash.

“Treasury has deprived the Iranian regime of revenue for their weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions,” Bessent said.

Bessent added that the US has succeeded in disrupting tens of billions of dollars’ worth of revenue from being accessible to Tehran.

Headline

US Launches New Airstrikes On Iran

Published

10 minutes ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States has launched new airstrikes in southern Iran.

The strike shot down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz and then a ground control site.

A US official revealed that American forces struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.

The official described the strikes as purely defensive, saying the US intended to maintain the ceasefire.

Report says this is the second time in three days that the US has carried out self-defense strikes against Iranian military targets in southern Iran.

Recall that on Monday the US carried out airstrikes against Iranian missile locations and boats that US Central Command said were preparing to launch mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

Headline

Woman Passes Out After Receiving 100 Strokes Of Cane

Published

4 days ago

May 24, 2026

Editor

A woman has passed out after she and her partner were each flogged 100 times in public for engaging in sex outside marriage under strict Sharia laws in Indonesia’s Aceh province.

The woman, whose identity was not disclosed, was later carried away after the punishment was carried out in Banda Aceh, located at the northern tip of Sumatra island on Thursday.

A masked official dressed in brown robes administered the caning before members of the public who gathered to witness the punishment.

Her partner was also seen wincing in pain while receiving the lashes.

The pair were among several individuals punished for violating Sharia regulations in the province.

Authorities from the Banda Aceh Sharia Court and the Prosecutor’s Office handed down punishments ranging from 25 to 100 lashes for offences including extramarital sex allegedly arranged through online applications.

Aceh remains the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia operating under Sharia law, where unmarried couples are prohibited from having sexual relations.

Caning is commonly used in the province as punishment for offences such as gambling, alcohol consumption, same-sex relations and sex outside marriage.

Under Aceh’s Sharia regulations, child rape offenders face some of the harshest penalties, including up to 200 strokes of the cane, a prison sentence of as long as 200 months or fines equivalent to two kilograms of gold.

The punishments are usually carried out publicly as a way of shaming offenders in addition to inflicting physical pain.

Such canings are often conducted outside mosques or in open public spaces, with residents watching and taking photographs during the exercise.

Human rights organisations have continued to condemn the practice, arguing that it causes emotional trauma and violates international human rights standards.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly criticised the punishments, saying they conflict with Indonesia’s constitution and global legal obligations.

Amnesty said in a statement: “Caning contravenes Indonesia’s constitution and is in clear violation of international human rights law and standards.

‘It constitutes a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and can amount to torture in violation of the UN Convention against Torture and other international covenants, to which Indonesia is a State Party.’”

Despite the criticism, local authorities have defended the punishments as part of Aceh’s religious and cultural identity, insisting they serve as a deterrent against immoral behaviour.

Earlier in January, another couple in the province reportedly received 140 lashes each after being found guilty of drinking alcohol and engaging in sex outside marriage.

(Daily Mail)