The UK immigration department announced a plan to reduce immigration. The British Home Secretary, James Cleverly, issued a five-point plan to reduce overuse of the visa system. The plan includes:
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- Banning international students from bringing their families into the UK. An exception will remain for post-graduate research degree students.
- Stopping immigration from undercutting local British workers.
- Removing the 20% going rate salary discounts for roles with job shortages.
- Stopping international care workers from bringing family into the UK.
- Ensuring immigrants who sponsor dependants can support them financially.
The level of net migration is too high.
Today we’re announcing a new plan to reduce immigration and curb the abuse of our visa system.
Here is what we’re doing 🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/i3QmWKneIH
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) December 4, 2023
The goal of the immigration curb
Secretary Cleverly believes this will prevent misuse of the visa system. One of the main changes will be to reform the Health and Social Care visa to prevent international care workers from bringing family members into the country. Social care firms in England will also be required to register with the Care Quality Commission to sponsor visas.
The minimum yearly salary for skilled workers will also be raised by 48% to £38,700 (Ksh. 7,470,790) from £26,200 (Ksh. 5,056,625). This is intended to make sure that care firms invest in the local workforce in the UK before looking for overseas workers. Secretary Cleverly also said that 300,000 people who were eligible to go to the UK in 2023 would not be able to in the future.
The minimum income for family visas has also risen to £38,700 (Ksh. 7,470,790). This will also apply to the spouses of migrants who became British citizens. They will need to meet this threshold when applying for visa extensions. Secretary Cleverly believes this will reduce the abuse of Health and Social Care visas and make the policy sustainable. Another way the government is trying to ensure care firms don’t rely on immigration for labour is by ending the practice of companies paying workers 20% less than the market rate for jobs on a shortage occupation list. However, this has been met with opposition because nursing homes have been facing a labour shortage for years.
Figures released by the immigration department show that in 2022, 745,000 migrants made it to the UK. Tory MPs have been trying to reduce net migration since 2010. Prime Minister Rushi Sunak also stated he wants UK immigrants to be individuals who can contribute to the UK economy. The Home Secretary plans to enact this by banning overseas care workers from bringing extended family to the country.
The government will also increase the annual charge for foreign workers using the National Hospital Service. The fee will go up from £624 (Ksh. 120,402) to £1,035 (Ksh. 199,705). The graduate visa program will also be reviewed to prevent abuse. These measures are believed to reduce immigration by 300,000 fewer people. The Tory government also believes that most of the immigration surplus is caused by students bringing dependents.
Effects of the immigration curb
Unison general secretary Christina McAnea believes this practice will lead to a crisis within the healthcare sector. Beforehand, the UK government encouraged migrant workers to move there to work in the NHS and social care because of the staffing shortage. By September 2023, over 100,000 visas were issued to health and social care workers. The government then said that 120,000 visas were issued to the dependants of these workers. The new financial family migration threshold will prevent family movement under special circumstances. This will severely impact lower-income British workers, especially women and young people.
Watch the full speech here: https://x.com/SkyNews/status/1731718046329221121?s=20
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