The Treasury Minister Chris Thomas has sought to reassure existing migrant workers and their employers that recent changes to worker migrant visa salary thresholds will not affect those already living and working on the Isle of Man under current arrangements.

New salary thresholds for Worker Migrant roles came into effect at the start of this month and are intended to strengthen safeguards against abuse and exploitation of the system.

The issue was raised during Tuesday's Tynwald sitting, when Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Jason Moorhouse asked what support was being provided to visa holders wishing to remain on the island and to employers managing the transition to the higher salary requirements.

In response, Mr Thomas said the changes form part of wider reforms to the worker migrant route and include transitional arrangements designed to protect those already on the scheme.

‘Existing worker migrants and their dependants continue under the previous rules while they remain on the route and are not affected by the new salary thresholds,’ he said.

‘Government has published updated guidance and frequently asked questions to help migrants understand the changes and how they may affect future applications, while we have also engaged closely with employers to support them through the transition.’

The Minister added that applications submitted before the changes came into force would continue to be considered under the previous rules.

Responding to concerns about any future alignment with higher UK salary thresholds, the Minister said the Isle of Man was adopting elements of the UK framework while retaining flexibility to reflect local circumstances.

‘There are no plans at this time to increase the current minimum salary requirement for the worker migrant route,’ Mr Thomas added.

‘This will, however, remain under review in close collaboration with the Department for Enterprise.’