The British government, led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, unveiled a number of initiatives on Monday to significantly lower immigration levels in response to criticism from Tory MPs. According to the UK Home Office, the new measures would affect approximately 300,000 people who would no longer be able to enter the country. One of the measures is a threefold increase in the minimum pay that migrants must earn in a skilled profession.
According to Sunak, net migration is too high, and he is committed to bringing it down.
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“We recently revealed the largest reduction in net migration in history. In a social media post, he said, “No Prime Minister in history has done this before.”
The government of Sunak has announced the following important measures:
- Restrictions on Dependents: As part of its goal to lower migration, the government intends to stop allowing a large number of dependents to enter the UK.
- Salary Threshold Increases: There will be a significant increase in the minimum pay for British citizens and foreign workers who are sponsoring family members. The income criteria for foreign employees will rise by nearly half, from £26,200 to £38,700, and it will rise similarly for British nationals who wish to sponsor family members.
- Tightening of the Health and Care Visa: There will be limitations on the visa, which was formerly a major path for caregivers and their dependents. Care providers may only sponsor migrant workers engaged in activities governed by the Care Quality Commission, and overseas caregivers will no longer be permitted to bring dependents into the United Kingdom.
- Crackdown on Cut-Price Labour: The government will introduce an Immigration wage List, which will be evaluated by the Migration Advisory Committee to align with rising wage thresholds, and remove the 20% salary discount for shortage occupations.
- Restrictions on Student Dependents: Steps have already been taken to address the growing number of students entering the UK with dependents. It is anticipated that these modifications will have a substantial effect on net migration, with 153,000 visas being awarded to dependents of sponsored students in the year ending in September 2023.
According to the government, all of these actions serve to uphold the fundamental requirement that anyone wishing to live and work in the UK be independent, stimulate the economy, and not end up as a financial drain on the government.
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Yvette Cooper, the home affairs spokesperson for Labour, charged that the Conservatives were experiencing a “chaotic panic” around immigration.
“Today’s statement is an admission of years of total failure by this Conservative government,” she stated in parliament.
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