The United Kingdom government’s immigration white paper released tightens every area of the UK’s immigration system, including study, work and family.
Key policies include the following:
- The Graduate Route will be reduced from two years to 18 months
- Use of the Agent Quality Framework will become mandatory for any institution using recruitment agents to attract international students
- Compliance requirements for institutions sponsoring international students will be tightened
- New English language requirements for student dependants and skilled workers
Work Reforms
- Closure of social care visas to new applications from abroad.
- 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.
- Launch new requirements for workforce strategies for key sectors where there are high levels of recruitment from abroad.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Ensuring that the very highly skilled have opportunities to come to the UK and access targeted routes for the brightest and best global talent.
Study Reforms
- Strengthen the requirements that all sponsoring institutions must meet in order to recruit international students.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Reduce the ability for Graduates to remain in the UK after their studies to a period of 18 months.
- Explore introducing a levy on higher education provider income from international students, to be reinvested into skills.
- 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).
- 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.
- Introduce requirements to demonstrate progression to level A2 (Basic User) for any visa extension, and B2 (Independent User) for settlement.
- Increase existing requirements for settlement across the majority of immigration routes from B1 to B2 (Independent User).
- Reform 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
This is an emerging story. Check back later for further details and for more on the immigration white paper
