Sponsors of Ministers of Religion and Religious Workers face new role, financial and grant-period rules for applications submitted on or after 29 October 2026, under Statement of Changes HC 584.
Key facts
- Who: Licensed sponsors of workers on the Minister of Religion and Religious Worker routes, and the workers they sponsor
- From: 29 October 2026
- Source: Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors: sponsor a Minister of Religion or religious worker (version 10/26)
Replaces version 04/26 of the guidance, published on 8 April 2026.
UK Visas and Immigration has reissued the sponsor guidance for the religious work routes as version 10/26. It reflects changes to the Immigration Rules in Statement of Changes HC 584, published on 3 September 2026. The changes apply to applications for entry clearance or permission to stay submitted on or after 29 October 2026.
The guidance lists four rule changes:
- Sponsors of a Minister of Religion or Religious Worker who is not entitled to National Minimum Wage must confirm they will maintain and accommodate the worker, and any dependants, for the duration of their permission in the UK. Only A-rated sponsors can do this (MRW3.18 and MRW5.3).
- The resident labour consideration for Religious Workers is replaced by new role eligibility requirements (MRW3.8 to MRW3.14).
- The 6-year maximum period for Ministers of Religion is abolished.
- A minor change is made to how grant periods are calculated for Ministers of Religion (MRW4.20 to MRW4.21).
Under paragraph MRW3.8, a Religious Worker must now meet one of four requirements. The role is supernumerary. Or the worker will mainly live within and be a member of a religious order. Or the worker performed religious duties outside the UK for the same faith-based organisation for at least 6 months immediately before applying, and provides evidence. Or the worker is applying from within the UK and the sponsor sponsored the application that led to their last grant on the route.
A role is supernumerary if it is over and above normal staffing requirements, so that no one else would fill it if the worker were absent (MRW3.13).
Where a worker applied before 29 October 2026, the sponsor must be able to show how it satisfied the resident labour consideration, unless the worker or role was exempt from that requirement (MRW3.10).
Other changes include a new paragraph, MRW2.6, which says organisations applying for a licence must satisfy the Home Office they can offer eligible employment. The guidance also adds MRW4.5 on former officially-sponsored Ministers of Religion and deletes the transitional age-requirement paragraphs.
What this means for applicants
When assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to a Religious Worker, the sponsor must explain in the job description field or a sponsor note how the job meets one of the MRW3.8 requirements. For a supernumerary role, it is not enough to say the job is supernumerary. If this information is missing, the worker's application may be delayed or refused (MRW3.9).
If a CoS was assigned before 29 October 2026 and the worker applies on or after that date, the sponsor must add a sponsor note where the resident labour consideration was met at the time because the sponsor identified the worker from national records it holds of all available workers, or advertised the role. The note must explain how the worker meets the new role eligibility requirements (MRW3.11 to MRW3.12).
Two separate CoS points apply to workers not paid National Minimum Wage. Where an exemption in the National Minimum Wage Regulations means the worker will not be paid it, the sponsor must explain this on the CoS (MRW3.17). Where the worker will not be entitled to National Minimum Wage, the sponsor must confirm on the CoS that it will maintain and accommodate the worker, and any dependants, for the duration of their permission, and must be an A-rated sponsor to do so (MRW3.18).
Related guide: T2 Minister of Religion visa UK
Sources
- Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors: sponsor a Minister of Religion or religious worker, UK Visas and Immigration, version 10/26, 29 October 2026
- Statement of Changes HC 584, published 3 September 2026 (as cited in the guidance)
