UK Net Migration Cut

Measures to transform the UK’s legal migration system, bolster border security and drive down unsustainable and unfair levels of migration will come into force within weeks, the Home Secretary has announced today.

The robust changes, which will curb abuse of the migration system, and ensure those choosing to make the UK their home can afford to do so, will begin to come into effect as early as March and will mean 300,000 people who came to the UK last year would now not be able to come.

They include:

• reforms that will restrict care workers from bringing dependants and require care providers to register with the Care Quality Commission if they are sponsoring migrants, which will come into force on 11 March
• the laying of Immigration Rules, which will include the removal of the 20% going rate discount for occupations on the Shortage Occupation List on 14 March
• a new increase to the minimum salary required for those arriving on the Skilled Worker visa, from £26,200 to £38,700, on 4 April
• increasing the minimum income requirement threshold in stages for family visas, starting at £29,000 from 11 April

Reforms to student visas came into force at the start of January, ending the ability of nearly all postgraduate students to bring dependants to the UK.

The measures will crack down on rising migration, help curb the abuse of the Health and Care visa route, where we have seen people come to the UK for care worker jobs that do not exist or are paid significantly less than the required salary for a migrant worker on this route, and ensure British labour is not undercut by overseas workers. 

From 4 April, the increase to the minimum salary required for those arriving on the Skilled Worker visa, from £26,200 to £38,700, will come into force. This 48% rise will drive down numbers, reduce pressure on public services and prevent the undercutting of British workers by employers who look to recruit cheap labour from overseas. Workers on a Health and Care visa and on health and education national pay scales will be exempt from this specific threshold. 

The minimum income requirement for family visas will rise in stages to give predictability to families, starting at £29,000 from 11 April. By early 2025 this will have increased to £38,700, ensuring only dependants that can be supported financially are brought to the UK. 

Disclaimer: This article has be reproduced from the UK Government Official Website

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