UK Home Secretary James Cleverly has announced a new package of measures to reduce the record number of net immigrants.
James Cleverly pledged to cut immigration by about 300,000 a year by making it more difficult for foreign workers to bring in family members and by raising the minimum income required to obtain two key types of visas. The measures are being introduced to “control immigration and prevent abuse of the system,” he said.
The Home Secretary also declared that by reviewing the list of shortage occupations, “we will end low-cost shortage labor from abroad,” and ordered a review of the rules allowing students to stay in the UK for up to three years after graduation.
Enough is enough,” the home secretary told parliament, setting forth proposals that will take effect early next year. Cleverly said that skilled foreign workers who want a British visa would have to earn 38,700 pounds ($48,860), a little more than a third from 26,200 pounds. Cleverly said that “immigration will prevent British workers from being paid less.
Currently, the average median salary for full-time workers in the UK is £34,963. However, the change would require foreign workers to secure higher salaries than British workers in “skilled occupations,” where the typical salary is less than £38,700.
The Home Secretary, however, said that due in part to the impact of Brexit, health and social care workers, who are currently in short supply, have been exempted, but will no longer be able to bring their family dependents.
Cleverly confirmed that the minimum income for family visas will be increased and that international students will be restricted from bringing dependents. He also reaffirmed that the UK will raise the additional fee paid by immigrants to use the state-run National Health Service (NHS) by 66% to 1,035 pounds. Cleverly added that he would reform the “shortage occupation list,” which details jobs for which employers cannot find enough British workers.
Critics point out that this effectively places a double burden on migrant workers. Migrant workers will have their national insurance contributions, which are used to cover medical expenses, deducted from their wages at source.
According to government figures, in the year to the end of September 2023, some 120,000 dependents migrated to the UK, along with 100,000 care workers. According to Cleverly, it is estimated that only a quarter of them are in work, meaning that “a significant number are using public services rather than contributing to economic growth.”
