With the recent Labour party victory in the general elections, many changes to the immigration system have already been proposed and actioned. Here, we will be exploring the confirmed and potential changes to immigration law and policy.
Earlier this year, we saw several drastic changes to the immigration system, which were brought in by the Conservative government. This included increasing the general salary threshold for Skilled Workers from £26,200 to £38,700, replacing the Shortage Occupation List with the Immigration Salary List (ISL), restricting students and care workers from bringing dependants to the UK, increasing the minimum income requirement for family visas, further fee increases, and other significant updates to the Immigration Rules.
In a statement made on 30 July 2024 by Yvette Cooper, Secretary of State for the Home Department, she confirmed; “This government supports these changes and will continue to implement them”.
She also announced that the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) would be commissioned to review a number of key sectors, such as international recruitment and work routes, and the financial requirements regarding family routes.
Despite the change in government and the differences in their policies, the Labour manifesto still maintained that net migration should be cut.
Announced Changes
Key changes that have already been announced include:
- Cancellation of the Rwanda removal policy for asylum seekers.
- Minimum income requirement planned increase for family applications to be paused at £29,000 until the MAC review is completed.
- Introduction of ‘Skills England’ (as a new statutory body) to work alongside strengthening and assisting MAC in its recommendations and focus on skills training.
- MAC review of skill gaps and key sectors in international recruitment, in particular the IT and engineering work sectors.
- Introduction of an EU cross-border security agreement.
What does this mean for UK businesses?
Labour have frequently maintained that they will be focusing on building the economy and directly reviewing the link between skills and occupation shortages, and how we can develop these skills to put less pressure on the immigration system.
The establishment of a new regulatory body, Skills England, aims to link “migration policy and visa controls to skills and labour market policies”. This new body will work alongside the MAC, the Labour Market Advisory Board, and the Industrial Strategy Council, and aims to take a different and more innovative approach to tackling the long-standing gaps in the skills sectors, such as IT and engineering roles. These sectors typically rely heavily on international recruitment and were included on the Shortage Occupation List for an extensive period of time. The former government chose to exclude them from the ISL.
Labour intends to strengthen the IT and engineering sectors by introducing training plans and bolstering domestic procedures, such as apprenticeships, which will, in turn, help to “end the long-term reliance on overseas workers in some parts of the economy”. The findings from the commissioned MAC reviews and the creation of Skills England could then lead to some alterations of the new ISL and increased enforcement.
The first quarter of 2024 saw one of the most severe increases in compliance action taken since Brexit, with 210 sponsor licence revocations and 309 Skilled Worker sponsor licence suspensions. The new Labour government have reaffirmed that they believe that increased enforcement and compliance action is necessary and will assist in reducing the widespread abuse of the business immigration system in the UK. The tripling of the fine for employers hiring illegal workers in February 2024 also sent a clear message to employers that businesses and employers would be held accountable for any non-compliance.
What does this mean for families?
From 11 April 2024, the minimum income requirement (MIR) for family visas was substantially increased from £18,600 per year to £29,000 per year, with a planned future increase to £38,700 per year. It has been confirmed that the MIR will remain at £29,000 until the MAC have completed their review into the financial conditions in family applications. The recently announced pause in the planned MIR increase will be welcome news to many migrant families hoping to apply.
The EU advocacy group the3million also presented a set of ten suggested policies for the new Labour government regarding the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) and protecting the rights of EU members residing in the UK. They requested that these policies should be fulfilled within the first one hundred days of government. Suggested policies included granting everyone who is under the EUSS Withdrawal Agreement rights, ensuring that late applicants to the EUSS do not suffer any long lasting punitive effects if they are granted status, and other suggestions, which can be found here. A response from the government regarding this has yet to be given.
Conclusion
It is no secret that the Labour government’s main immigration aim is to reduce net migration, similarly to their predecessors. Depending on the outcome of the MAC reviews, changes could be made to the ISL and the way that the sponsorship and points-based system functions. It has also been rumoured that Labour may look to reintroduce the Resident Labour Market Test for work visas, however, this has yet to be officially confirmed. Additionally, it is likely that we will continue to see the exponential increase in compliance action against sponsors and employers. Changes could also be made to family visas and the MIR.
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