UK Tightens Visa Rules to Curb Immigration and Target Low-Paid Workers

UK Tightens Visa Rules: The long-anticipated draft policy package lays the groundwork for a significant shift: not only curbing irregular migration but tightening legal routes into the UK too.

The UK government is planning to tighten visa requirements for migrant workers to curb the number of people coming to Britain through legal routes.

These measures, detailed in the upcoming Immigration White Paper, include new graduate-level requirements for skilled worker visas and limits on lower-skilled visas.

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"We inherited a failed immigration system where the previous government replaced free movement with a free market experiment," Yvette Cooper, the British interior minister, said in a statement. "We are taking decisive action to restore control and order to the immigration system."

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised to reduce migration to Britain, addressing growing concerns about the pressure on public services. This issue has led to protests, with some escalating into right-wing violence shortly after the Labour Party assumed office last summer.

The new restrictions follow an increase in the number of skilled worker visas, which have tripled since the program's creation by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government in 2020. This initiative was presented as a means to help the UK gain more control over its borders after leaving the European Union.

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The changes are part of a wider plan to reduce net migration, which stood at 728,000 in the 12 months to June 2024. Starmer, under pressure from growing public concern and the rise of the anti-immigration Reform UK party, said the new rules would restore “control” over the immigration system and ensure that only those who contribute meaningfully to the UK would be allowed to stay.

The UK will increase English-speaking requirements for migrants and make it harder for them to stay in the country as part of efforts to rein in net immigration levels that have touched records in recent years.

Britain’s new immigration system will end automatic settlement and citizenship rights for anyone living in the country for more than five years, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said late Sunday in an emailed statement. The plans are set to be unveiled on Monday in a white paper that also includes proposals to raise language standards across “every immigration route,” and end overseas recruitment by care companies.

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