Government unveils plans to tighten immigration rules: What it means for businesses

The government has unveiled proposals to impose greater restriction on the employment of overseas workers in the UK as part of plans to reduce migration.

Writing in the new immigration white paper, prime minister Keir Starmer said the plans aim to "restore control to our borders" and "wean our national economy off its reliance on cheap labour from overseas", which result in the creation of "a reformed immigration system that no longer ignores the millions of people who want the opportunity to train and contribute".

Speaking in a press conference to unveil the proposals, Starmer said the current system is "broken" and the previous Conservative government's immigration policy had led to "chaos". He pledged that it was a "promise" that "this plan means migration will fall".

Starmer added:

"We will create a migration system that is controlled, selective, and fair. A clean break with the past that links access to visas directly to investment in homegrown skills so that if a business wants to bring people in from abroad, they must first invest in Britain.

"But also, so settlement becomes a privilege that is earned, not a right, easier if you make a contribution, if you work, pay in, and help rebuild our country."

Key reforms in the immigration white paper

The main immigration reforms include:

• Only sectors with long term shortages will be permitted to recruit from overseas as long as there is a workforce strategy in place and the employer has committed to increasing staff from the domestic workforce.

• The government will increase by 32% the immigration skills charge (ISC), a fee employers must pay when sponsoring someone applying for a skilled worker, senior, or specialist worker visa. ISC funding will be announced in the uncoming spending review to support priority sectors in upskilling the domestic workforce and reduce reliance on migration over the medium term.

• Overseas workers will need a degree-level qualification to apply for skilled worker visa, instead of the current requrement for the equivalent of A-level.

• The Labour Market Evidence Group will be set up to make informed decisions about the state of the labour market and reduce reliance on migration for recruitment.

• The government will look at ways to incentivise employers to increasing the recruitment of domestic talent, including options to restrict those sponsoring skilled visas if they are not committed to increasing skills training.

• The period international graduates can remain in the UK after their studies will be reduced from two years to 18 months.

• Key sectors where there are high levels of recruitment from abroad will need to produce, or update, a workforce strategy which relevant employers will need to comply with.

• Social care visas will be scrapped completely. For a transition period until 2028, visa extensions and in-country switching will be permitted for those already in the UK with working rights.

• New English language requirements for visa applicants and their dependents,

• The number of people arriving in the UK via very high talent visa routes.

• The innovator founder visa will be reviewed to ensure that it supports entrepreneurial talent currently studying at UK universities to move into the visa so that they can build their business and career in the UK

• Make it simpler and easier for top scientific and design talent to use the global talent visa.

Reaction to the immigration white paper

Shazia Imtiaz, general counsel at Association of Professional Staffing Companies:

"The UK must be able to compete on a global scale for highly skilled talent in sectors that are struggling with resources, including science, technology and healthcare. The focus from the government's announcement suggests this will be the case through these reforms.

"Of course, the devil is in the detail and we will need to review the full scope of the white paper to truly ascertain if these plans are fit for purpose and allow businesses to still access core skills that are required to boost the economy and upskill the domestic workforce.

"However, as much as we agree that the UK skills market needs to be the focus for Government investment, we cannot overlook the critical role that international talent plays in remits that are facing a talent deficit. The plan to cut overseas care worker recruitment, for example, has the potential to only add to the resourcing headache the sector already faces unless managed appropriately."

Professor Martin Green OBE, chief executive of Care England:

"This is a crushing blow to an already fragile sector. The government is kicking us while we're already down.

"For years, the sector has been propping itself up with dwindling resources, rising costs, and mounting vacancies. International recruitment wasn't a silver bullet, but it was a lifeline. Taking it away now, with no warning, no funding, and no alternative, is not just short-sighted, it's cruel."

Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive at CBI:

"Many of the principles running through the prime minister's speech will be supported by businesses, including taking a targeted approach to legal migration and resisting an arbitrary target.

"Employers will welcome a stronger link between skills and immigration policies because their preference is to recruit and train from the domestic workforce whenever they can. Key to this will be delivering promised reform of the Apprenticeship Levy to unlock much-needed investment in a wider range of quality, non-apprenticeship training.

"Businesses should not be long-term reliant on immigration to deliver growth, but immigration policy is preventing businesses from accessing critical skills to deliver investment, putting at risk growth and jobs in the rest of their workforce.

"The reality for businesses is that it is more expensive and difficult to fill a vacancy with immigration than if they could hire locally or train workers. Work visas already require higher pay than most domestic workers get for the same job. When considered alongside the large fees and accompanying charges, foreign workers are simply not the 'easy' or 'cheap' alternative."

Full list of immigration white paper reforms

Here's the full list of the government's immigration reforms as outlined in the white paper:

Work reforms

"The immigration system must be linked to skills and training requirements here in the UK, so that no industry is allowed to rely solely on immigration to fill its skills shortages."

• We will lift the level for skilled workers back to RQF 6 and above. Salary thresholds will rise.

• We will increase the Immigration Skills Charge for the first time since its introduction in 2017, by 32% in line with inflation.

• We will close social care visas to new applications from abroad. For a transition period until 2028, we will permit visa extensions and in-country switching for those already in the country with working rights, but this will be kept under review.

• We will establish the Labour Market Evidence Group to draw on the best data available in order to make informed decisions about the state of the labour market and the role that different policies should play, rather than always relying on migration.

• We will launch new requirements for workforce strategies for key sectors where there are high levels of recruitment from abroad.

• We will establish a new Temporary Shortage List to provide time limited access to the Points-Based immigration system. Occupations below RQF 6 must be listed on the Temporary Shortage List in order to gain access to the immigration system.

• Access to the Points-Based immigration system will be limited to occupations where there have been long term shortages, on a time limited basis, where the MAC has advised it is justified, where there is a workforce strategy in place, and where employers seeking to recruit from abroad are committed to playing their part in increasing recruitment from the domestic workforce.

• We will explore how to ensure that employers, using the immigration system, are incentivised to invest in boosting domestic talent, including options to restrict employers sponsoring skilled visas if they are not committed to increasing skills training.

• We will introduce reforms to allow a limited pool of UNHCR recognised refugees and displaced people to apply for employment through our existing skilled worker routes, where they have the skills to do so.

• We will go further in ensuring that the very highly skilled have opportunities to come to the UK and access our targeted routes for the brightest and best global talent.

Study reforms

"The immigration system must be linked to skills and training requirements here in the UK, so that no industry is allowed to rely solely on immigration to fill its skills shortages."

• We will strengthen the requirements that all sponsoring institutions must meet in order to recruit international students.

• We will raise the minimum pass requirement of each Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA) metric by five percentage points, so that – for example – a sponsor must maintain a course enrolment rate of at least 95% and a course completion rate of 90% in order to pass the compliance threshold.

• We will implement a new Red-Amber-Green banding system to rate the BCA performance of each sponsor, so that it is clear to them, the authorities and the public which institutions are achieving a high rate of compliance, and which are at risk of failing.

• We will introduce new interventions for sponsors who are close to failing their metrics, including placing them on a bespoke action plan designed to improve their compliance, and imposing limits on the number of new international students they can recruit while they are subject to those plans.

• We will require all sponsors wishing to use recruitment agents for overseas students to sign up to the Agent Quality Framework, designed to maintain the highest standards of agent management, and ensure that institutions cannot simply outsource their responsibility to ensure that the individuals whose visas they are sponsoring are genuinely coming to the UK to study.

• We will ensure there are arrangements, for future international student recruitment, for sponsoring institutions to demonstrate that they are considering local impacts when taking its decisions on international recruitment.

• We will conduct a review of the Short-Term Study accreditation bodies to ensure that their processes are robust and consider what further checks need to be put in place to ensure the right level of scrutiny is being applied both before an organisation is accredited, and when that accreditation is renewed.

• We will reduce the ability for Graduates to remain in the UK after their studies to a period of 18 months.

• We will explore introducing a levy on higher education provider income from international students, to be reinvested into skills. 75 The rules must be respected and enforced - from our crackdown on illegal working to the deportation of foreign criminals.

• We will tighten up the rules we apply both at the border, and within our immigration system, to make it easier to refuse entry or asylum to those individuals who break the rules or break our laws.

• We are introducing measures so that where people do break the rules or break our laws, there are stronger powers and proper enforcement in place to track them down, arrest them, and remove them from our country.

• We will simplify the rules and processes for removing foreign national offenders and take further targeted action against any recent arrivals who commit crimes in the UK before their offending can escalate.

• We will strengthen border security by rolling out digital identity for all overseas citizens through the implementation of eVisas and new systems for checking visa compliance, replacing the former Biometric Residence Permit cards.

• We will introduce tighter controls, restrictions and scrutiny of those who attempt to abuse and misuse the immigration system, and who arrive with a pre-existing intention to claim asylum on, or after, arrival, when there has been no material change in their home country to warrant such a claim.

• We will continue to take steps to tackle illegal working, continuing to surge resource into the key sectors where illegal working is taking place – including in the gig economy – and using eVisas and modern biometric technology to support our Immigration Enforcement raids – facilitated by the 1,000 staff redeployed into enforcement and returns since the election.

• We will build on existing banking measures to ensure these reflect advances in technology and work across Government to take action against those who have not respected the rules by failing to pay tax owed.

• Later this year, we will set out more detailed reforms and stronger measures to ensure our laws are upheld, including streamlining and speeding up the removals process.

• It is right that we take action against foreign national offenders in the UK before they get the opportunity to put down roots in the UK, and that we do what is necessary to protect local communities and prevent crime.

"The system must support integration and community cohesion, including new rules on the ability to speak English and the contribution that people bring to the UK."

• We will increase language requirements for Skilled Workers and workers where a language requirement already applies from B1 to B2 (Independent User) levels, in accordance with the Common European Framework for Reference for Languages (CEFR).

• We will introduce a new English language requirement for all adult dependants of workers and students at level A1 (Basic User) to align to spousal and partner routes and will work towards increasing this requirement over time.

• We will introduce requirements to demonstrate progression to level A2 (Basic User) for any visa extension, and B2 (Independent User) for settlement.

• We will increase our existing requirements for settlement across the majority of immigration routes from B1 to B2 (Independent User).

• We will reform our settlement and citizenship rules by expanding the Points-Based System and increasing the standard qualifying period for settlement to ten years.

• Individuals will have the opportunity to reduce the qualifying period to settlement and citizenship based on contributions to the UK economy and society.

• We will continue to offer a shorter pathway to settlement for non-UK dependants of British citizens to five years, and we will retain existing safeguards to protect the vulnerable, including settlement rights for victims of domestic violence and abuse.

• We will create a new bereaved parent route, allowing those in the UK on the route of a parent of a British or settled child, but who have tragically lost their child, to settle immediately.

• We will also conduct a refresh of the Life in the UK test and how it operates and consider measures to reduce the financial barriers to young adults, who have lived here through their childhood, from accessing British nationality.

• We will ensure children who have been in the UK for some time, turn 18 and discover they do not have status, are fully supported and able to regularise their status and settle. This will also include a clear pathway for those children in care and care leavers.