How UK Is Planning To Change Visa Rules Amid Immigration Crackdown

The UK government is planning to tighten visa requirements for migrant workers to curb the number of people coming to Britain through legal routes. Under the measures - outlined in the Immigration White Paper -  the Prime Minister Kair Starmer government seeks to restrict skilled worker visas to graduate-level jobs and force businesses to increase training for local workers, to end what it called the "failed free market experiment" in mass immigration. 

In its Sunday announcement, the UK Home Office said skilled visas will only be granted to people in graduate jobs, while visas for lower-skilled roles will only be issued in areas critical to the nation's industrial strategy. They will reportedly be based on strong evidence of worker shortages, and where employers can commit to increasing domestic skills and recruitment.

Though the government has not explicitly mentioned Asians, the measures are part of a broader effort to reduce overall immigration and the flow of workers into the country.  Earlier, an AFP report said work and study visa applications from Pakistanis and Sri Lankans are among those set to be curbed.

The government will also assign a group to identify where industries rely too much on foreign labour, according to a report by Reuters.

The Starmer government is under intense pressure to cut net migration-- which is the number of people coming to Britain minus the number leaving-- after the success of Nigel Farage's right-wing, anti-immigration Reform UK party in local elections this month. Starmer has pledged to reduce migration to Britain in response to concerns over the pressure this is placing on public services. 

How Migration Became A Poll Issue In the UK

High levels of legal migration were one of the major drivers behind the vote to leave the European Union in 2016, with voters unhappy about the free movement of workers across the bloc. After Britain eventually left the EU in 2020, the then Conservative government reduced the threshold to allow workers in categories such as yoga teachers, dog walkers and DJs to be eligible for skilled worker visas.

While post-Brexit changes to visas saw a sharp drop in the number of European Union migrants to Britain, new work visa rules and people arriving from Ukraine and Hong Kong under special visa schemes led to a surge in immigration.

The UK's net rate of migration hit a historical high to record 906,000 in the year to June 2023, up from the 184,000 people who arrived in the same period during 2019, when Britain was still in the EU. The number of people staying permanently in the UK rose by 80 per cent between 2021 and 2024, while the number of dependents entering the UK jumped by 360 per cent between 2021 and 2023.

"We inherited a failed immigration system where the previous government replaced free movement with a free market experiment. We are taking decisive action to restore control and order to the immigration system," Yvette Cooper, the British interior minister, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the government is being criticised as failing to consider the impact on businesses and for not doing enough to prevent the exploitation of visa holders.

Chris Philp, the Conservatives' home affairs spokesman, claimed the measures do not go far enough in addressing the surge in legal migration, according to a Bloomberg report. 

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