To decrease migration and fortify the border, the UK Home Office released what is known as an immigration white paper.
According to the paper released on May 12, companies must now increase domestic training to reduce their dependency on foreign hiring and restore order to the system, which is expected to witness an increase in net migration between 2019 and 2023.
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Instead of using skills and training, some of the measures they are trying to implement aim to reverse the trend of growing international recruiting.
They will also establish a labor market evidence group. Instead of saying they would simply rely on migration, the group’s objective is to illuminate facts so they may make informed decisions about what is happening in the labor market.
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How the migration regulations may impact Everyone
#1. Skilled Workers:
For skilled workers, the level goes back to RQF 6, which stands for graduate level and higher. The beginning pay will likewise rise.
Additionally, they go to the immigration salary list. This is the list where they offer discounts to employees based on their pay entry points.
However, there is a rise in the number of people who come from extremely talented backgrounds.
This involves expanding the number of spots available for research interns, making it simpler for exceptional scientists and designers to apply for the Global Talent visa, and reviewing the Innovator Founder visa and the High Potential Individual route.
#2. Employers
In order to avoid long-term shortages, access to the points-based immigration system will be reduced.
This won’t be forever, though; there will be a time restriction under the Migration Advisory Committee’s (MAC) recommendations, which makes sense.
Employers who hire foreign workers must additionally pledge that they are contributing to the rise in hiring from within the country.
Sponsors (including institutions) who are determined to have abused the immigration system are subject to financial penalties and punishment.
#3. Adult social care
Recruitment for social care visas abroad is over, so no new applications will be accepted.
However, they continue to grant visa extensions to foreign social workers.
#4. Students
The UK has cut the length of time graduates must stay after their studies are over to 18 months.
They are considering imposing a fee on foreign students who wish to participate in domestic skill training.
Additionally, the requirements for sponsoring institutions to recruit or admit international students will be strengthened.
#5. Family
They will draft legislation to make it clear that Parliament and the government will choose who has the right to remain in the UK.
In these cases, people use their Article 8 right to family as a legal defense to prevent deportations that are obviously in the public interest.
Illegal working and foreign criminals
Migrants will acquire the digital IDs through eVisa, which will replace Biometric Residence Permits.
They’re going to undertake more thorough checks. Go after people who have applied for asylum without mentioning any new, significant dangers to their safety.
They will focus more on combating illicit labor, particularly in industries like the gig economy. These include the use of biometric technology, eVisas, and additional law enforcement personnel.
They will announce more steps, including expedited deportation, later this year.
#6. Non-English speakers
The English language requirement for Skilled Workers and their dependents will increase from B1 to B2, which is the Independent User level under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
Adult dependents of workers and students will now be required to have at least A1-level English, which is a Basic User level, as long as they have plans to improve over time.
Visa extensions will now require proof of progress to the A2 level, and the B2 level will be required for settlement in the UK.
Some settlement routes will now require B2-level English instead of B1.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has outlined plans to tighten the immigration system, as the government plans to significantly reduce migration numbers.
The proposed changes include mandatory English tests for all visa applicants and their adult dependents, as well as a longer pathway to obtaining settled status.
The Prime Minister also intends to cut the recruitment of overseas care workers. These measures aim to reduce legal migration, which currently makes up the majority of migration to the UK.
The plan does not include changes to unauthorized arrivals, such as small boat crossings.
Net migration (the number of people entering the country minus those leaving) reached 728,000 in the year up to June 2024.
The UK government says its migration reduction plan is a break from the past, aiming to ensure that settling in the country becomes a privilege to be earned, not a right.
The UK Home Office will publish a White Paper outlining the new rules to tighten work and study visa regulations.
Meanwhile, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC that it is time to end the recruitment of care workers from abroad.
Cooper added that the new measures could reduce the number of lower-skilled foreign workers entering the country by up to 50,000 next year.
The government plans to announce these changes to visa and recruitment laws on Monday, 12 May, as part of efforts to reduce net migration.
The Prime Minister described the changes in the White Paper as a way to “finally take back control of our borders.”
A White Paper is an official government document presenting the final, complete version of a government proposal. It is used to share policy plans with the public and provide guidance on how the policy will work.
Under one of the new government crackdowns being planned by the Home Office, people from countries like Nigeria, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka may find it more difficult to work and study in the UK.
“This plan means migration will fall”—UK” Prime Minister
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said that Britain must “compete for the best talent in the world” and questioned why parts of the UK economy seem to be “almost addicted to importing cheap labor.”
He stated that the White Paper will outline every area of the immigration system, covering work, family, and study, to give the government greater control.
“I’m doing this because it’s right, it’s fair, and it’s what I believe in,” Starmer said at a press conference.
He explained that the current immigration system almost allows abuse and that it encourages some businesses to rely on low-paid foreign workers rather than investing in young people in the UK.
Starmer noted that net migration under the previous government reached a record high of nearly one million people in 2023.
“Make no mistake—this plan means migration will fall. That is a promise.”
He added that if the government needs to take further steps to relieve pressure on housing and public services, they will do so.
Starmer also pointed out that the number of migrants coming to the UK is nearly the size of Birmingham, the second-largest city in the UK.
“That’s not control—it’s chaos. You don’t do something like that by accident. It’s a choice.”
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