Tuesday, December 5, 2023
UK Tightens Legal Immigration Rules
Photo during 2016 Brexit referendum campaign in United Kingdom. Photo by Don Roth
As we have seen, concerns with the numbers of immigrants and immigration are not limited to the United States.
Reuters reports that Britain yesterday announced plans to reduce the number of legal migrants, raising the minimum salary they must earn for a skilled employment visa by a third. "High levels of legal migration have dominated Britain's political landscape for more than a decade and were a key factor in the 2016 vote to leave the European Union. [Prime Minister Rishi] Sunak has promised to gain more control [over immigration] . . . ."
Other measures include stopping foreign health workers bringing in family members on their visas, increasing a charge s that migrants pay to access the health service by 66%, and raising the minimum income to secure for family visas.
The Associated Press reports that Home Secretary James Cleverly declared that the “robust action” to reduce legal immigration, "which hit a record level of almost 750,000 people in 2022."
Critics say that the immigration restrictions would worsen the shortage of health and social care workers.
KJ
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2023/12/uk-tightens-legal-immigration-rules.html