Sir Keir Starmer has promised to bring down migration numbers by tightening up the rules on those allowed to come to the UK.
The prime minister promised his new plan will reduce net migration – the difference between immigration and emigration – by the end of this parliament in 2029.
Details of the plans have been published in a white paper, a government document that outlines policy proposals before being introduced as legislation.
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Sky News has combed through the white paper to bring you the details.
Language requirements
All visa routes will require people to have a certain level of English proficiency.
People coming with the main visa holders – dependents – will also have to have a basic understanding of English, which they currently do not.
The level of proficiency needed depends on the visa, with a skilled worker visa requiring at least upper intermediate level. Currently, it requires just an “intermediate” level.
To extend visas, people will have to show progression in their English.
Keir Starmer announced the changes at a podium with ‘securing Britain’s future’ on the front. Pic: PA
Settled status
Currently, people have to live in the UK for five years before they can gain settled status.
Under the new plan, they will have to live in the UK for 10 years.
However, “high-contributing” individuals such as doctors and nurses could be allowed to apply for settled status after five years.
A new bereaved parent visa will be created so those in the UK who have a British or settled child that dies can get settled status immediately.
Settled status gives people the right to work and live in the UK for as long as they like, and provides them with the same rights as citizens, such as healthcare and welfare and the right to bring family members to live in the UK.
People with settled status can then choose to apply for British citizenship.
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British citizenship
People can qualify sooner for citizenship by contributing to UK society and the economy, like settled status.
The Life in the UK test will be reformed.
Social care visa
This visa, which allowed care workers to come to the UK due to a shortage, will not exist anymore.
There will be a transition period until 2028 when visa extensions and switching to the visa for those already here will be allowed.
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Skilled worker visa
People wanting to come to the UK on a skilled worker visa must now have at least an undergraduate university degree. The minimum was previously A-levels.
There will also be tighter restrictions on recruitment from overseas for jobs with “critical” skills shortages, as well as strategies to incentivise employers to increase training and participation rates in the UK.
Very highly skilled people, in areas the government identifies, will be given preferential access to come to the UK legally by increasing the number of people allowed to come through the “high talent” routes such as the global talent visa, the innovator founder visa and high potential individual route.
A limited pool of refugees will be allowed to apply for employment through the skilled worker route.
Skilled worker visas will now require at least a university degree, with preferential access for highly skilled people. Pic: PA
Study visas
People on graduate visas will only be allowed to remain in the UK for 18 months after they finish their studies.
Currently, students finishing degrees can stay for two years if they apply for the graduate visa, or those finishing PhDs can stay for three.
Institutions sponsoring international students will have their requirements strengthened, with those close to failing their sponsor duties placed on an action plan and limits imposed on the number of new students they can recruit.
Sponsors, who can cover tuition fees and living costs, include overseas governments, UK government scholarships, UK government departments, UK universities, overseas universities, companies and charities.
Humanitarian visa
The Ukraine, Hong Kong and Afghanistan humanitarian visa routes will remain.
However, the government will review the effectiveness of sponsorship arrangements for those schemes so businesses, universities and community groups can “sustainably” sponsor those refugees.
The government will continue to support humanitarian visas, such as the Afghanistan one after the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021. Pic: AP
Domestic worker visa
To help prevent modern slavery, the government will reconsider this visa, which currently allows foreign national domestic workers to visit the UK with their employer for up to six months.
Businesses
Companies wanting to bring people from abroad to work for them in the UK will have to invest in the UK first.
To prevent exploitation of low-skilled workers on temporary visas already in the UK, the government will look at making it easier for workers to move between licensed sponsors for the duration of their visa.
The right to family life
A growing number of asylum seekers have used the “right to family life” – Article 8 of the Human Rights Act – to stop their deportation.
Legislation will be introduced to “make clear it is the government and parliament that decides who should have the right to remain in the UK”.
It will set out how Article 8 should be applied in different immigration routes so “fewer cases are treated as ‘exceptional'”.
A group of migrants was brought into Dover by Border Force as the PM announced immigration changes. Pic: PA
Foreign national offenders
The Home Office will be given powers to more easily take enforcement and removal action, and revoke visas in a much wider range of crimes where people did not serve jail time in other countries.
Deportation thresholds will be reviewed to take into account more than just the length of their sentence, with violence against women and girls taken more seriously.
Enforcement
Sir Keir said the immigration rules – at the border and in the system – will be more strongly enforced than before “because fair rules must be followed”.
People who claim asylum, particularly after arriving in the UK, where conditions in their home country have not materially changed, will face tighter controls, restrictions and requirements where there is evidence of abuse of the system.
Other governments will be made to play their part to stop their nationals coming to the UK, or from being returned.
Sponsors of migrant workers or students abusing the system will have financial penalties or sanctions placed on them, and they will be given more support to ensure compliance.
People on short-term visas who commit an offence will be deported “swiftly”.
Scientific and tech methods will be explored to ensure adults coming to the UK are not wrongly identified as children.
eVisas, which have now replaced physical documents, will help tackle illegal working and support raids on those overstaying their visas or on the wrong visa.
Major banks are legally obligated to refuse current accounts to individuals suspected of being in the UK illegally and to notify the Home Office. This will be extended to other financial institutions.
