In a letter to the Department for Education, the practice says the hike in the required minimum salary introduced last year creates insurmountable challenges for [many international] graduates to progress professionally and qualify as architects.The letter is backed by architects from firms including Allies and Morrison, Hawkins\Brown, HTA and Chapman Taylor.BDP insists that the 45,900 salary threshold is unattainable for many aspiring architects, and risks undermining the diversity, innovation and global reputation of the UKs architectural profession.AdvertisementThe letter, sent yesterday (6 February), is addressed to Seema Malhotra, the minister for citizenship and migration at the Home Office and minister for equalities at the Department for Education. It was signed off by BDPs global head of education, Sue Emms.Its 17 other signatories include Rachel Haugh, founding partner at SimpsonHaugh, Claire Hodder, managing director at Hodder+Partners, Ross Ogilvie, director at Cartwright Pickard Architects, Jo Bacon, managing partner at Allies and Morrison, Carol Lees, partner at Hawkins\Brown, Caroline Dove, partner at HTA and Catalina Ionita, senior architect at Chapman Taylor.Changes to the skilled worker visa requirements nearly doubled the minimum salary requirement for foreign workers when they were introduced last April from 26,200 to 38,700.The minimum salary threshold for architects increased to 45,900, and architecture was removed from the Immigration Salary List, a list designed to combat occupational shortages which had previously allowed firms to hire foreign workers on salaries 20 per cent less than the going rate.BDP says the hikes have scuppered the aspirations of many of the international students employed in the UK as architectural assistants [who] have made significant sacrifices to study and work here, often leaving behind established lives and careers in their home countries.AdvertisementThe practice pointed out that the average salary for newly qualified architects, as set out in the RIBA Salary Guide, is 36,500 well below the 45,900 threshold and that lower quartile salaries are around 33,000.The letter argues: Even in London, where salaries are typically 10 per cent higher than the national average (38,000), many architects only reach the new threshold after five years or more of post-qualification experience. Outside London, it is often unattainable, even for associate-level roles.BDP said this disconnect between visa salary thresholds and industry realities is having a direct impact on students and practices, creating a systemic issue that risks excluding talented individuals from pursuing a prosperous career, and diminishing the UKs ability to attract and retain global talent.The practice told the AJ that, as the UKs largest employer of architects, it had a number of staff that had been affected by the changes.An anonymous BDP employee, told the AJ that, despite sitting most of his Part 3 exams, he couldn't finish the qualification and become an architect due to the salary threshold hike.The employee said he was really shocked and sad about the change, adding: I was hoping that, all being well, by the time I started doing my Part 3 and needed to switch my visa [to a skilled worker visa], I would be able to comfortably do it based on the previous salary threshold.He said that in order to stay in the UK and work in architecture, he would need to remain as an architectural assistant for four years, after which point he could apply for indefinite leave to remain.He added: I'm going to potentially see generations of people of people coming into the office, doing their Part 3. And he said that, in lieu of qualifying, he was anxious to explore opportunities for interesting projects, to help him to not feel like I'm stuck, or like Im not progressing.BDP is urging the government to take action by reinstating architecture on the Immigration Salary List. This would recognise it as a profession essential to the UKs global competitiveness and creative industries by reducing the salary threshold for architects to align with actual market rates as outlined by professional bodies such as RIBA, and by establishing transitional protections for international graduates already in the UK and affected by the rules, to allow them to qualify.2025-02-07Anna Highfieldcomment and share