ARTICLE AD BOX
The government has unveiled a slate of new requirements and restrictions around migration to the UK, from a higher level of English language proficiency to eliminating the careworker visa pathway entirely.
“If you want to live in the UK, you should speak English. That’s common sense,” said Sir Keir Starmer on X (formerly Twitter).
The changes could make British citizenship among the hardest to achieve in the anglophone world, with a decade-long wait to apply.
“Extending the standard route to settlement to 10 years risks making it harder for people to contribute and settle into their communities,” said Marley Morris, associate director at the Institute for Public Policy Research.
Here, The Independent looks at how some of Labour’s new rules compare to immigration systems in the US, Australia and New Zealand.
Migration still at high levels
The most recent figure for net migration to the UK stands at 728,000 people in the year to June 2024.
Some 1.2 million people entered the country during that period, while 479,000 left the UK.
“A one-nation experiment in open borders conducted on a country that voted for control. Well, no more,” Sir Keir said on Monday. “The experiment is over. We will deliver what you have asked for – time and again – and we will take back control of our borders.”
The figure was down overall by 20 per cent from the previous year, when net migration hit a record-high level of 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
Net migration to the UK remains far above its pre-Brexit level, when it stood at around 200,000 to 250,000.
New migration figures are set to be released next week, revealing the first full migration numbers since Sir Keir’s Labour government came to power.
The figures, showing net migration up to December last year, will provide an insight into the effectiveness of the government’s immigration strategy so far.
Decade-long barrier to citizenship
The new route to settlement, which doubles the time a person is required to have lived in the UK from five years to 10, will mean British citizenship is among the hardest to acquire in the world.
This decade-long requirement is over twice as high as in comparable countries, and is perhaps the most significant change made in this white paper.
Mr Morris added: “Visa holders will spend lengthy periods on an insecure status, increasing their risk of poverty and losing status altogether. This could inhibit integration while doing little to bring down numbers.”
Even in the United States, which is considered to have one of the toughest immigration systems, migrants only have to have lived in the country for five years on a visa before they can begin to apply for citizenship.
The same requirement exists in New Zealand, and it’s even lower – four years – in Australia.
“The UK will become a relative outlier on the global stage, where 10 years to gain settlement is rare,” explained Jonathan Beech, managing partner at immigration law specialists Migrate UK.
“[This brings into question] how attractive the UK will be to those with the skills and expertise the UK requires to be an economic powerhouse.”
Language requirements
The government has placed a new emphasis on English language requirements for incoming migrants.
Skilled workers and those looking to settle in the UK will see the language requirement rise from B1 to B2 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, along with other changes.
This is a higher stage of the “independent user” level of proficiency in English.
However, the UK is not necessarily unusual in imposing this requirement.
For skilled workers and students, New Zealand requires a minimum 6.5 score on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), which is equivalent to the upper end of a B2 score in the European framework.
Australia also requires a score of 6 to 6.5 on the IELTS scale, which is broadly in line with the new B2 standard.
The US, meanwhile, is less strict on English language proficiency. There is no standardised score that applicants must achieve.
However, a basic level of English is generally required, with the US citizenship test requiring applicants to read, write, speak, and understand English.
Tighter restrictions for graduates
As part of Labour’s crackdown on migration, students in the UK will be made to leave sooner after they graduate.
Currently, foreign students in UK universities can stay on for two years after they finish their degree, via the graduate visa route. The new changes will reduce this period to just 18 months.
Meanwhile, in Australia, graduates can stay up to twice as long on a graduate visa, from two to three years. Foreign graduates in New Zealand can also remain for up to three years.
In the United States, students must leave just 60 days after they graduate, unless they receive an optional practical training visa. In limited cases, graduates can stay for up to 12 months, or 24 months for science, technology, engineering or mathematics students.
This puts the UK on the more restrictive end of opportunities for foreign students post-graduation, though it is mostly in line with the US.
In the 2022/23 academic year, there were around 750,000 international students in higher education, according to research by the House of Commons, which is equal to one in four university students. International students contributed £12bn in tuition fees in 2022/23, making higher education a lucrative sector.
Meanwhile, research from London Economics estimates that international students could bring net benefits worth £37.4bn to the UK. Yet the government’s paper notes there has been an increase in students sponsored by “lower-ranking education institutions”, and not enough international students are moving into graduate-level roles.
Though shortening the timeframe for those on a graduate visa could speed up the transition into higher-paid roles, Mr Beech also warned it could force talented foreign graduates to leave the UK.
“For those who do obtain an 18-month graduate visa, they will be keen to lock in a sponsored role with the first graduate-level opportunity they come across,” explained Mr Beech.
“In addition, employers will be worried about compliance and scrutiny when deciding whether the vacancy being offered to a graduate visa holder meets the required level. Not all job codes exactly match the vacancy being offered, and it could be a route of anxiety for HR teams who are not well versed in immigration rules and guidance.”
English (US) ·