UK proposes tightening visa rules to reduce legal migration

London: The British government is seeking to tighten visa requirements to curb the number of workers arriving in the country through legal routes.
The measures – outlined in the Immigration White Paper – propose new graduate-level requirements for skilled visa applicants and limits on lower-skilled visas.
A group will be assigned to identify where industries rely too much on foreign labour, according to a Home Office announcement on May 11.

The Home Office said one of the measures will be to grant lower-skilled time-limited visas only on the basis of strong evidence of worker shortages and where employers can commit to increasing domestic skills and recruitment. It will outline the measures on May 12, when it publishes the White Paper in Parliament.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to reduce migration to Britain in response to concerns over the pressure this is placing on public services. The issue prompted protests shortly after Labour took office in the summer of 2024, which descended into right-wing violence.
The changes come after an explosion of skilled worker visas, which have tripled since then Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government created the programme in 2020. The programme was framed as a way for Britain to exert more control over its borders after the country left the European Union.

Britain’s net rate of migration remains historically high, after hitting a record 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The number of people staying permanently in Britain rose 80 per cent between 2021 and 2024, while the number of dependents entering Britain jumped 360 per cent between 2021 and 2023.

The government has been criticised for failing to consider the impact on businesses and for not doing enough to prevent the exploitation of visa holders, such as trafficking or debt bondage – particularly in the care sector.
Mr Chris Philp, the Conservatives’ home affairs spokesman, said the measures do not go far enough in addressing the surge in legal migration.

He called on Labour to support a binding cap on immigration and his party’s proposal to repeal the entire Human Rights Act from immigration matters.