Home Secretary James Cleverly announced measures on Monday to tighten immigration rules, which he said would help reduce the number of net migration by 300,000.
It comes after the number of net migration in 2022 was estimated to be 745,000, some 60 percent up from that for 2021 and quadrupling the number in 2019, according to numbers released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The provisional estimate for the year ending June 2023 is lower, at 672,000, suggesting there may have been a slow down in immigration this year, although the figure is still subject to revision.
“It is still far too high,” Mr. Cleverly told Parliament on Monday.
The government has previously said students visa rules will be tightened from 2024, Mr. Cleverly said that, along with the new measures, will slash the total number of immigration by 300,000.
Under the new plans, overseas healthcare workers will no longer be able to bring dependants, and only firms regulated by the the Care Quality Commission will be eligible to sponsor visas.
According to the home secretary, in the year ending September 2023, some 120,000 accompanied 100,000 foreign care workers, and only a quarter of the dependants are estimated to be in work, meaning “ a significant number are drawing on public services rather than helping to grow the economy,” he said.
To ensure migrants “make a big enough financial contribution” in the system, Mr. Cleverly said the annual immigration health surcharge will go up by 66 percent this year, from £624 to £1,035.
The salary threshold for skilled workers’ visa will rise by 47.7 percent, from £26,200 to £38,700 from next spring, with health and social care workers being exempt. Mr. Cleverly said the new figure is “in line with the median full-time wage for those kinds of jobs.”
The £26,200 threshold was set in 2020 after the post-Brexit point-based immigration system was introduced. According to the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, it’s around £31,806 in today’s money.
The government will also scrap the 20 percent going rate salary discount for occupations on the Shortage Occupation List.
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), which advises the government on migration, is tasked with replacing the list with a new Immigration Salary List with a reduced number of occupations.
The income threshold for dependent of British citizens and residents will also be raised from £18,600 to £38,700.
The home secretary said he has also asked the MAC to review the graduate visa route to prevent abuse.
Earlier this year, the government has said most international students can no longer bring dependants from 2024, and they will no longer be able to switch to work visas before their studies are completed.
Responding the the announcement, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said it’s “an admission of years of total failure by this Conservative Government—failure on the immigration system and failure on the economy.”
“Labour has called for an end to the 20 percent unfair discount, for increased salary thresholds to prevent exploitation and for the inclusion of advice from a strengthened Migration Advisory Committee,” she told Parliament.
“Most of all, we have called for a proper plan, with clear links between the immigration system, training and the economy, and workforce plans, none of which are in the statement, because the Government have no grip and no proper plan. This is a chaotic approach.”
The concern over high immigration levels was reflected in voters of all major political parties, with 36 percent of Liberal Democrats voters saying the number is too high—compared to 85 percent of Conservative voters and 38 percent of Labour voters—and 5 percent of Lib Dems voters saying the number was too low. Only 1 percent of Tory voters and 4 percent of Labour voters said the number was too low.
Monday’s announcement also came as Mr. Cleverly was set to fly to Rwanda to upgrade a deal designed to allow the UK to send illegal immigrants on a one-way flight to the east African country.
