The British government is set to announce sweeping changes to the immigration system in a bid to curb the number of foreign workers entering the country, amid growing public pressure and rising support for the populist Reform UK party, Bloomberg reported.
According to Bloomberg, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration will unveil a new Immigration White Paper that includes stricter requirements for skilled worker visas and tighter controls on lower-skilled routes. The move comes as Labour seeks to address concerns over migration’s impact on public services and social cohesion.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the new approach marks “a fundamental shift” in linking immigration with the UK’s domestic skills agenda.
“Those changes will come in the course of this year and those changes together will lead to, we expect, a reduction of up to 50,000 fewer lower skilled visas over the course of the next year,” Cooper told the BBC on Sunday.
Read More: UK considers restrictions on student visas from Pakistan, other countries
Under the new rules, graduate-level requirements will be raised for skilled visa applicants, and employers seeking lower-skilled workers must provide strong evidence of labour shortages and commit to domestic training efforts.
The government will also introduce tighter restrictions on foreign recruitment in the care sector. While care work visas can still be extended, Cooper said employers “shouldn’t be recruiting from abroad.”
The reforms follow a surge in skilled worker visas, which have tripled since the scheme was introduced under then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2020, following Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Read More: UK grants fewer work visas
Migration figures remain historically high. Net migration peaked at a record 906,000 in the year to June 2023. The number of dependents entering the UK rose 360% between 2021 and 2023, and permanent residency applications increased by 80% over a similar period.
On Monday, the Home Office will also outline new removal rules, giving authorities broader powers to deport foreign nationals convicted of crimes — including non-custodial offences — with a focus on early removal of those recently arrived in the country.
The government has faced criticism for failing to consider the impact on businesses and for not adequately preventing exploitation of migrant workers, particularly in the care sector, where cases of trafficking and debt bondage have been reported.
The opposition Conservatives say Labour’s reforms do not go far enough. Conservatives’ shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp urged the government to back a legally binding cap on migration and to repeal the Human Rights Act in immigration matters.
Read More: 25 Pakistani students sent to jail for UK visa fraud
Cooper rejected the call for specific targets, noting previous Conservative pledges had failed. “We’ve had many targets, promises from Conservative governments in the past, all of which have been broken,” she said. Still, she added, “we do need to bring net migration down.”
Earlier this month, it was reported that the UK government is considering restricting student visa applications from countries such as Pakistan, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka, where nationals are reportedly more likely to claim asylum after arrival.
The proposal is part of a broader plan to reduce net migration, which reached 728,000 in the year ending June 2024. According to UK government data, 16,000 of the 108,000 asylum seekers last year had initially entered the country on student visas.
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