Immigration rules to be ‘tightened up’ in Labour white paper
The prime minister has unveiled sweeping reforms to the UK’s immigration system in a bid to curb levels of net migration.
In a speech on Monday, Sir Keir Starmer declared that securing indefinite leave to remain in Britain is “a privilege that must be earned, not a right” as he lays out a series of measures that will make it harder to move to the UK and obtain citizenship.
The prime minister rebuffed claims that lower migration would lead to slower growth in the UK. “The idea that higher migration leads to higher growth has been tested in the past four years – growth didn’t shift, it stayed stagnant,” he said.
Under the plans, the time a person must have spent in the UK to qualify for residency rights will be doubled from five to ten years. That time could be reduced based on a “contributions-based model” which will look at whether they have paid taxes on time, among other factors.
Highly-skilled private sector jobs, such as in engineering or AI, as well as work in public services such as in the police force or NHS will also speed up the residency process.
English language requirements will be tightened, including a new rule that adult dependents must demonstrate a basic understanding of English.
The plans, which are aimed at reducing levels of low-skilled immigration, have been laid out in a white paper by home secretary Yvette Cooper.
“For years we have had a system that encourages businesses to bring in lower paid workers, rather than invest in our young people,” Starmer said. “That is the Britain this broken system has created.”
“Every area of the immigration system, including work, family and study, will be tightened up so we have more control. Enforcement will be tougher than ever and migration numbers will fall.
“This is a clean break from the past and will ensure settlement in this country is a privilege that must be earned, not a right.”
The move comes just days after Labour suffered heavy losses during the local election, losing most of the seats the party was defending. Insurgents Reform, which had campaigned for a “net zero” target for migration, picked up hundreds of seats and won control of several local councils in England.
But Starmer has stopped short of setting a target for net migration, a move that has attracted criticism from Reform and the Conservatives.
“I don’t think it’s sensible to put a hard-edge cap on it…every single one of them failed; going down the failed route is not sensible,” he said.
Net migration hit a record high of 906,000 in the year to June 2023 before falling by around a fifth to 728,000 the following year, according to estimates from the Office for National Statistics. The next set of migration data is widely expected to show another significant fall in 2025.
High skilled visas will still increase
The number of people able to access certain types of high skilled visas will increase despite an overall fall in net migration, the government’s white paper promises, as it seeks to placate concerns that curbs on immigration could harm economic growth.
The paper says the government will be “increasing the number of people arriving on our very high talent routes” alongside “faster routes for bringing people to the UK who have the right skills and experience to supercharge UK growth in strategic industries”.
Measures include a doubling in the number of workers an overseas business can send to the UK, making the Global Talent visa easier to use and increasing the number of places for research interns in areas such as AI.
“We are also streamlining the process for employers and skilled workers to get visas, reducing bureaucracy and supporting growth,” the white paper said.
But the overall threshold for skilled workers will return to RQF 6 – degree level — up from the RQF 3 level it had been lowered to previously, a move that would see the number of eligible occupations reduced by around 180.
The paper said the current immigration system “has led to over recruitment from abroad and under training in the UK. And it has left UK growth too often reliant upon short-term, immigration-driven increases in the size of the labour market, rather than on sustained increases in productivity and growth per capita through investment in skills and innovation here at home.”
Read more: UK to increase ‘very high talent’ immigration in new plans