The immigration white paper proposes future legislation changes, including doubling the settlement period in points-based system routes to ten years, reducing graduate visas to 18 months, and increasing the immigration skills charge by 32%.
White Paper has set out reforms to legal migration, so that the government can restore order, control and fairness to the system, bring down net migration and promote economic growth, all underpinned by five core principles:
First, net migration must come down so the system is properly managed and controlled.
Second, the immigration system must be linked to skills and training requirements here in the UK, so that no industry is allowed to rely solely on immigration to fill its skills shortages.
Third, the system must be fair and effective, with clearer rules agreed by Parliament in areas like respect for family life, to prevent confusion or perverse outcomes.
Fourth, the rules must be respected and enforced – from our crackdown on illegal working to the deportation of foreign criminals.
And finally, the system must support integration and community cohesion, including new rules on the ability to speak English and the contribution that people bring to the UK.
The White Paper suggests that the immigration system must be linked to skills and training requirements here in the UK, so that no industry is allowed to rely solely on immigration to fill its skills shortages.
Work Reforms
UK will lift the level for skilled workers back to RQF 6 and above. Salary thresholds will rise.
UK will increase the Immigration Skills Charge for the first time since its introduction in 2017, by 32% in line with inflation.
UK will close social care visas to new applications from abroad. For a transition period until 2028, UK will permit visa extensions and in-country switching for those already in the country with working rights, but this will be kept under review.
UK will establish the Labour Market Evidence Group to draw on the best data available in order to make informed decisions about the state of the labour market and the role that different policies should play, rather than always relying on migration.
UK will launch new requirements for workforce strategies for key sectors where there are high levels of recruitment from abroad.
UK will establish a new Temporary Shortage List to provide time limited access to the Points-Based immigration system. Occupations below RQF 6 must be listed on the Temporary Shortage List in order to gain access to the immigration system.
Access to the Points-Based immigration system will be limited to occupations where there have been long term shortages, on a time limited basis, where the MAC has advised it is justified, where there is a workforce strategy in place, and where employers seeking to recruit from abroad are committed to playing their part in increasing recruitment from the domestic workforce.
UK will explore how to ensure that employers, using the immigration system, are incentivised to invest in boosting domestic talent, including options to restrict employers sponsoring skilled visas if they are not committed to increasing skills training.
UK will go further in ensuring that the very highly skilled have opportunities to come to the UK and access our targeted routes for the brightest and best global talent.
Study Reforms
UK will strengthen the requirements that all sponsoring institutions must meet in order to recruit international students.
UK will raise the minimum pass requirement of each Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA) metric by five percentage points, so that – for
example – a sponsor must maintain a course enrolment rate of at least 95% and a course completion rate of 90% in order to pass the compliance threshold.
UK will implement a new Red-Amber-Green banding system to rate the BCA performance of each sponsor, so that it is clear to them, the authorities and the public which institutions are achieving a high rate of compliance, and which are at risk of failing.
UK will introduce new interventions for sponsors who are close to failing their metrics, including placing them on a bespoke action plan designed to improve their compliance, and imposing limits on the number of new international students they can recruit while they are subject to those plans.
UK will require all sponsors wishing to use recruitment agents for overseas students to sign up to the Agent Quality Framework, designed to maintain the highest standards of agent management, and ensure that institutions cannot simply outsource their responsibility to ensure that the individuals whose visas they are sponsoring are genuinely coming to the UK to study.
UK will ensure there are arrangements for future international student recruitment, for sponsoring institutions to demonstrate that they are considering local impacts when taking their decisions on international recruitment.
UK will conduct a review of the Short-Term Study accreditation bodies to ensure that their processes are robust and consider what further checks need to be put in place to ensure the right level of scrutiny is being applied both before an organisation is accredited, and when that accreditation is renewed.
UK will reduce the ability for Graduates to remain in the UK after their studies to a period of 18 months.
UK will explore introducing a levy on higher education provider income from international students, to be reinvested into skills.