United Kingdom | Immigration system reforms

The Home Office published a white paper titled “Restoring Control over the Immigration System” on May 12, sharing new policies to reduce migration and strengthen the U.K.’s borders.

Key Points:

• Key policies include:
  • Lifting the level for skilled workers to a graduate level and above
  • Abolishing the immigration salary list that gave people discounts from salary thresholds
  • Ending overseas recruitment for social care visas
  • Strengthening the requirements that all sponsoring institutions must meet to recruit international students
  • Developing faster routes to bring talent to the U.K. who have the right skills and experience to supercharge strategic industry growth
  • Introducing new English language requirements across a broader range of immigration routes, for both main applicants and their dependents
  • Doubling the standard qualifying period for settlement to 10 years
• The first policy changes are set to be introduced to Parliament in the coming weeks.
• The government plans to publish further reforms to the asylum system and border security later this summer.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.

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