The United Kingdom has announced plans to tighten its visa policies in a bid to curb the rising number of legal migrants arriving through established immigration routes.
This was made known in a Home Office statement released on Sunday ahead of the publication of a new Immigration White Paper scheduled for Monday.
A White Paper is an official UK government document that outlines proposed policies or legislation, often used to invite public consultation before new laws are introduced.
According to Bloomberg, the Home Office noted that the new White Paper proposes stricter graduate-level requirements for skilled visa applicants and significant restrictions on lower-skilled visa pathways.
- The document also proposes the formation of a government-appointed group tasked with identifying sectors that are overly dependent on foreign labour.
One of the proposed changes will be to grant lower-skilled time-limited visas only on the basis of strong evidence of worker shortages and where employers can commit to increasing domestic skills and recruitment
Labour’s migration reform
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration is facing mounting pressure to act on legal migration following protests that erupted shortly after Labour took office in 2024. Some of the protests turned violent, driven by concerns over the increasing strain on public services.
The tightening of visa requirements forms part of Starmer’s wider pledge to reduce migration and regain public confidence on the matter.
The UK’s legal migration numbers have surged since the launch of the skilled worker visa scheme under Boris Johnson’s government in 2020. The program, created to assert post-Brexit border control, has led to a tripling of skilled visa approvals.
According to official data, the UK recorded a net migration figure of 906,000 in the year to June 2023, the highest on record.
Additionally, the number of migrants settling permanently in the UK rose by 80% between 2021 and 2024, while the number of dependents entering the UK spiked by 360% between 2021 and 2023.
Business impact and rising exploitation risks
Despite efforts to control migration, the UK government has come under fire for failing to assess the economic consequences of its policies, particularly in sectors reliant on foreign workers like care services.
Reports of exploitation have also surfaced, with critics warning that the system leaves migrants vulnerable to “trafficking or debt bondage, especially in the care sector.”
Commenting on the White Paper, Conservative home affairs spokesman Chris Philp criticised Labour’s approach, stating that the proposals are insufficient and calling for a binding cap on immigration as well as the repeal of the Human Rights Act in immigration matters.
