Britain has announced stricter visa measures for the migrants arriving in the country via legal routes. The decision comes in the backdrop of PM Rishi Sunak being criticised for the record number of migrants. The new plans in place have raised the minimum salary earned the migrants in a skilled job by a third.
Britain’s political landscape has been dominated by high levels of legal migration for more than a decade. It was also a key reason in the 2016 vote to leave the European Union.
PM Sunak has been criticised by the lawmakers in his Conservative Party, ahead of an election expected next year, with the opposition Labour Party far ahead in opinion polls. PM Sunak has promised to gain more control over the matter.
“Immigration is too high. Today, we’re taking radical action to bring it down,” said PM Sunak. Figures of the last month show annual net migration to the United Kingdom hit a record of 745,000 in 2022. The number has stayed at high levels since, with many migrants now coming from places like India, Nigeria and China instead of the EU.
With the new measures in place, the numbers could reduce by 300,000, as per Home Secretary (interior minister) James Cleverly. The Government will raise the minimum salary threshold for foreign skilled workers to 38,700 pounds ($48,900), from its current level of 26,200 pounds, though health and social workers would be exempt.
Other measures include stopping foreign health workers from bringing in family members on their visas, increasing a surcharge migrants have to pay to use the health service by 66%, and raising the minimum income for family visas.
However, traders and businesses have expressed displeasure with the new measure, and termed it as counterproductive and challenging for the private sector and state-run health service. It is crucial to note that both of these suffer labour shortages.