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The British government has introduced new immigration rules aimed at reducing the number of people moving to the UK. The measures include higher salary requirements for work visas and restrictions on bringing family members to the country. The government claims the changes will reduce the number of eligible immigrants by 300,000. However, critics argue that the move will put strain on sectors like healthcare and social care, which heavily rely on immigrant workers. The Conservative Party sees cutting immigration as a way to secure votes in the upcoming elections, but economists warn of the potential economic impact.
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LONDON — The British government announced tough new immigration rules Monday that it says will reduce the number of people able to move to the U.K. each year by hundreds of thousands.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said he was taking “robust action” to lower authorized immigration, which hit a record level of almost 750,000 people in 2022. Critics said the moves would leave overstretched sectors like health and social care at a breaking point.
Under the new rules, immigrants will have to earn more to get a work visa and will find it harder to bring family members to the U.K.
Cleverly said that from the spring of 2024, prospective immigrants will have to earn 38,700 pounds ($48,900) to get a skilled worker visa, up from 26,200 pounds ($33,000) now. British citizens who want to bring their foreign spouse to Britain will have to earn the same amount – almost double the current threshold.
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Health and social care, sectors that are highly reliant on immigrant staff, are exempt from the salary rule. But care workers from overseas will no longer be able to bring dependent relatives with them to Britain, leading to concerns in the industry that fewer will want to come.
The government also said it would scrap a rule that lets employers in sectors on a “shortage occupation list” pay immigrant workers 20% less than U.K. citizens.
Starting in January, most foreign graduate students also will no longer be able to bring family members to the U.K.
Cleverly said the new measures would reduce by 300,000 the number of people eligible to move to Britain in future years.
Revised figures released last month by the Office for National Statistics said net migration to the U.K. — the number of people arriving minus those leaving — was a record 745,000 in 2022. Net migration in the 12 months to June 2023 decreased to 672,000.
Reducing immigration is a totemic issue for many in the governing Conservative Party, who backed Britain’s exit from the European Union in order to “take back control” of the country’s borders.
Britain left the bloc in 2020, ending the automatic right of citizens from the 27 EU nations to live and work in the U.K. Since then the number of visas issued for people to come to Britain for work or study has soared. The country has also taken in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war in Ukraine and the Chinese government’s crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong. The 2022 immigration figure is three times the pre-Brexit level.
The Conservatives believe cutting immigration will shore up votes ahead of an election next year, because many voters see immigrants as adding to pressure on already overstretched public services and worsening a housing crisis.
But many economists say immigrants are needed to fill essential jobs – especially in health care and in low-paid social care roles — and that they contribute more to the economy than they receive.
Christina McAnea, general-secretary of the Unison trade union, said the measures would be a “total disaster” for health and the care sector.
“Migrant workers were encouraged to come here because both sectors are critically short of staff. Hospitals and care homes simply couldn’t function without them,” she said. “Migrants will now head to more welcoming countries, rather than be forced to live without their families.”
Opposition Labour Party immigration spokeswoman Yvette Cooper said the government had failed to train U.K. workers to fill key jobs.
“Where is the workforce plan on social care, on engineering, on bricklaying, on all shortage occupations that their total economic failure has left us with?” she said.
The government is also under pressure to meet its own goal of stopping unauthorized asylum-seekers arriving on small boats across the English Channel.
Last month the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that its plan to send some people arriving by boat on a one-way trip to Rwanda – intended to discourage others from making the risky sea crossing – was illegal because Rwanda is not a safe country for refugees.
The government said it would strike a new treaty with Rwanda to address the court’s concerns. Cleverly is expected to fly to the Rwandan capital. Kigali, this week to finalize the deal.
Britain has already paid the East African country at least 140 million pounds under the agreement struck in April 2022, but no one has yet been set to Rwanda.
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The British government has announced new immigration rules that aim to reduce the number of people moving to the UK each year by hundreds of thousands. Home Secretary James Cleverly stated that these measures are being taken to lower authorized immigration, which reached a record level of almost 750,000 people in 2022. However, critics argue that these changes will put overstretched sectors such as health and social care at a breaking point.
Under the new rules, immigrants will have to earn a higher salary to qualify for a work visa and will find it more difficult to bring their family members to the UK. From the spring of 2024, prospective immigrants will need to earn £38,700 ($48,900) to obtain a skilled worker visa, up from the current threshold of £26,200 ($33,000). British citizens who want to bring their foreign spouse to the country will also have to meet the same income requirement.
While health and social care, sectors heavily reliant on immigrant staff, are exempt from the salary rule, care workers will no longer be able to bring their dependent relatives with them to the UK. This has raised concerns within the industry that fewer care workers will be willing to come to the country.
The government has also announced the elimination of a rule that allows employers in certain sectors to pay immigrant workers 20% less than UK citizens. Additionally, starting in January, most foreign graduate students will no longer be able to bring their family members to the UK.
The new measures are expected to reduce the number of people eligible to move to Britain by 300,000 in future years. However, economists argue that immigrants are crucial for filling essential jobs, particularly in healthcare and low-paid social care roles, and that they contribute more to the economy than they receive.
The Conservative Party sees cutting immigration as a way to secure votes ahead of the upcoming election, with many voters believing that immigrants place additional strain on public services and exacerbate the housing crisis. However, opposition politicians argue that the government has failed to train UK workers to fill key jobs.
In addition to immigration reforms, the British government is also under pressure to address the issue of unauthorized asylum-seekers arriving via small boats across the English Channel. Last month, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the government’s plan to send some arrivals to Rwanda was illegal, as it is not a safe country for refugees. The government now aims to strike a new treaty with Rwanda to address the court’s concerns..
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JILL LAWLESS Associated Press said UK unveils tough new rules designed to cut immigrant numbers
