In efforts to reduce migration, the British government has introduced new measures, including plans to raise the minimum salary required for foreign workers to be eligible candidates for a work visa.
The measure to introduce these restrictions follows last year’s net migration record reached in the UK, which has surpassed expectations and alarmed policymakers, adding pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, VisaGuide.World reports.
According to AlJazeera, the British PM has promised to gain more control after his cabinet criticised the migration record ahead of an election expected next year. The government has promised to reduce migration, aiming to target a net figure of less than 100,000.
The first measure towards this goal includes raising the minimum salary threshold for foreign skilled workers to €45,236 from the current amount set at €30,590. In addition, Interior Minister James Cleverly noted that the government will reform the list of jobs where these changes apply due to shortages and make rules more stringent on whether workers can bring their families.
Migration to this country is far too high and needs to come down, and today we are taking more robust action than any other government before. This package of measures will take place from next spring.
The new measure might provoke discontent among business owners who have struggled to hire workers recently, as the UK is encountering labour shortages across some sectors, especially after Brexit.
Annual net migration to the UK hit a record of 745,000 last year and has remained high ever since data showed last month.
Another issue that the UK is facing is related to border control – one of the reasons why Brexit was introduced in the first place. Initiators of Brexit had noted that leaving the EU would give Britain greater control of its borders, and many who voted to leave have mentioned high migration rates as the main determining factors for their decision.
Britain has also opened visa schemes for people in Ukraine and Hong Kong, as companies in several sectors such as engineering, catering and construction have urged the government to allow them to hire international workers in order to meet labour market needs.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), around 925,000 of the people who arrived in the UK last year were non-EU nationals, around 151,000 were from the EU, and the remaining 88,000 were British citizens. This shows that the overall immigration in 2022 was 1.16 million.