LONDON, May 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has promised to overhaul a “broken” immigration system, with plans to tighten English tests for all visa applicants and their adult dependents among the reforms being considered.
Migrants will also have to wait 10 years to apply to settle in the UK, instead of automatically gaining settled status after five years, under the plans.
Labour’s long-awaited migration rules, to be published on Monday, will “create a system that is controlled, selective and fair,” the prime minister said.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the idea Sir Keir “is tough on immigration is a joke” and promised to push Parliament to introduce cap on migration.
Labour have signalled the plan to raise English language requirements across every immigration route into the UK, though have not set out full details.
For the first time, adult dependents will also be required to show basic language skills to help them integrate, find jobs and avoid exploitation.
In a statement ahead of his speech on Monday, Sir Keir said: “When people come to our country, they should also commit to integration and to learning our language.”
Critics have warned the rules may split families if partners or parents struggle to learn English.
But research suggests that migrants themselves consider language important.
In 2021, nine-out-of-ten migrants reported speaking English well, according to analysis by the Oxford University Migration Observatory.
Only 1% of migrants self-reported not being able to speak English at all. But those with poor English skills were much less likely to be employed, the analysis found.
The move is part of a wider effort to “tighten up” what the prime minister called a “broken” immigration system.
The changes will also end automatic settlement in the UK after five years. Most migrants will need to stay at least ten years before they can apply for settle status and begin the path to gaining full citizenship.
At the same time, a “fast-track” settlement will be established for nurses, engineers, AI experts and others who “genuinely contribute to Britain’s growth and society”, Sir Keir said.
Sir Keir described the plans as a “clean break from the past” that will “ensure settlement in this country is a privilege that must be earned, not a right”.
Successive governments have tried unsuccessfully to reduce net migration, which is the number of people coming to the UK minus the number leaving.
Net migration climbed to a record 906,000 in June 2023, and last year it stood at 728,000.
The Immigration White Paper, brings together months of research by officials and will lay out Labour’s plan to get tougher on migration in the wake of big gains made by Reform UK in the local elections.
The threshold for Skilled Worker Visas is expected to be increased to graduate level, tightened from the current A-level measure – while the list of exceptions to the rules for temporary shortage visas in some industries will be narrowed.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper revealed on Sunday that Labour will change the rules to ensure care workers will no longer be recruited from overseas.
Instead, firms will be required to hire British nationals or extend visas of overseas workers already in the country.
Cooper said it is “time to end that care worker recruitment from abroad”.
These two changes will cut up to 50,000 lower-skilled and care workers coming to the UK over the next year, Cooper said. — NNN-AGENCIES