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Immigrants in the UK will need to take a decade in the country to apply for settlement, and the minister will announce on Monday unless they can show “a true and lasting contribution to the economy and society.”
The proposal to end the automatic resolution after five years is part of a series of radical changes to the immigration system that will also severely limit employers’ ability to hire overseas workers in low-skilled roles.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Sunday that the recruitment of care workers overseas will end in a few months due to the changes, which will be listed in a white paper aimed at cutting immigration to the UK inward.
Other changes will limit skilled workers’ visas to graduate-level jobs, with employers only temporary visit visas, i.e. lower skilled positions, where there are shortages and plans to train and recruit UK workers.
Cooper said the changes in low-skilled work visas will reduce arrivals by 50,000 per year, and her broader plan will result in a “significant reduction” in net immigration, but she did not set a numerical goal.
The latest figures in the year ended mid-2024 show net migrations of 728,000, but the Office of Budget Responsibility expects that in the mid-term, medium-level inflows will be less than half of that level as visa restrictions have been imposed by the previous conservative government.
Earlier this month, the British Anti-Immigration Reform Party made extensive gains in local elections in England and advanced the rule rate of Sir Kyle Starmer’s ruling party in the polls.
The Home Office is expected to issue a technical assessment to understand the extent to which it believes each measure will reduce immigration, but any analysis of potential economic costs.
Cooper argued on Sunday that record high immigration contributed to the growth of anemia as it allowed a lack of investment for workers in the UK, which she said hurts productivity.
The government has proposed these changes, including all work, family and research visa routes that are more difficult in English – to ensure people coming to the UK “dedicated to integration” and “win accommodation rights”.
Starmer will argue that the new settlement rules open a fast path for “highly skilled, highly contributing individuals who follow the rules, such as nurses, doctors, engineers and AI leaders.”
However, other new immigrants need to stay in the UK for ten years before applying for indefinite leave to maintain their benefits and citizenship.
Until then, they may be responsible for paying visa fees and fees to use the NHS for thousands of pounds for household use. Those who come to employer-sponsored visas may also face barriers to establishing a career.
Immigration researchers and activists say the longer solution (last week was the first reported by British banks last week) would backfire because it is unlikely to change immigration levels but would make it harder for people coming to the UK to integrate.
“The end result will be a group of people living and working irregularly, undermining their integration and promoting exploitation, while having little impact on decreasing immigration levels,” said Marley Morris, deputy director of the think tank IPPR.
The government has also been criticized by anti-immigrant campaigners.
Richard Tice, deputy leader of reform in the UK, said the public was “angry, angry” at the level of law and illegal immigration, which he believed was the first appearance of his party in local elections.
Shadow Inside Secretary Chris Philp posted the work visa change on the “small 50,000 adjustments” “not enough”. He admitted that the Conservative Party had taken action “too late” to address immigration, which peaked over 900,000 in mid-2023 under the leadership of the former Conservative government.
Cooper said international students will still be allowed to stay in the UK after completing the course, but universities that rely on fees will be expected to do more to ensure visa rules are followed.
The closure of the nursing visa route will cause adult social care providers to warn that they face a long-term staff shortage as funding pressure on local authorities prevents them from raising their wages.
According to the skills of the industry’s development and planning agencies, in 2023-24, there were 131,000 vacancies (more than 8% of all roles).
Cooper told the BBC that the expansion of existing caregivers visas will be allowed and that the industry will continue to be able to recruit from a database of about 10,000 immigrants in the UK “they are on caregivers visas… not actually here or not working with standards”.
