Rules restricting recruitment of overseas workers are to be eased after City law firms lobbied to simplify the system.

From next week (6 April), the Government is set to reverse tougher immigration rules introduced in March 2009, which made a master's degree an effective requirement for bringing highly-skilled workers into the UK from overseas.

A number of law firms and other parties had raised concerns that the points-based system introduced last year would be overly restrictive with regards to their overseas recruitment processes.

The new system will now see bachelor degrees count towards the overall points under tier 1 of the points system and will aid law firms that recruit from jurisdictions such as the Americas, Australia and India.

The amendments come as a result of a review launched last year into how the system could be improved. The Law Society submitted a list of points for consideration on behalf of City law firms, with the key issue concerning the master's degree requirement.

The society also requested that qualification as a solicitor should count towards the points under tier 1, as is the case with an accountancy qualification, but this was rejected.

The move comes as part of a number of changes to the points system, with applicants now able to qualify under tier 1 without a degree if they earn over £150,000 a year.

Allen & Overy managing partner Wim Dejonghe commented: "We're pleased the Government listened to the concerns raised by the City as a whole. The cross-border nature of our business relies on attracting the best talent from around the world. The changes mean we can continue to attract the most talented lawyers to our London office either to work for long or short-term periods to help with the integration of our global network."

Sarah Langton, recruitment manager at Clifford Chance (CC) – which was involved in the lobbying – said: "Because the new regulations coincided with the credit crunch they have posed less of a problem than they would have otherwise. It would have been more of a problem if we had needed to recruit extensively during this period. The amendments mean that it will be easier to have a flow of strong talent coming into the UK."

Norton Rose chief executive Peter Martyr added: "We are actively pursuing a reciprocal talent exchange with our Australian offices and we very much hope that the change in Australian entry requirements will help facilitate this exchange – as such it could be a welcome development for us".