Migration Watch UK responds to new immigration measures

December 08, 2023

Commenting on the changes announced today to the UK’s immigration system, Alp Mehmet, Chairman of Migration Watch UK said:

These measures are an admission that Conservative immigration policy has collapsed. If the government’s aim is now to reduce immigration by only 300,000 a year this will simply normalise what, until recently, was record breaking levels of net migration. The result will be a rapidly growing population with all the costs involved.

Notes to editors

The announced changes to the immigration system include:

• Preventing overseas care workers bringing family dependants and require care firms in England to be registered with the Care Quality Commission to sponsor visas.
• Increasing the earnings threshold by a third to £38,700 from next Spring for those using the skilled worker route, in line with the median full-time wage for these kinds of jobs.
• Ending the 20 per cent going rate salary discount for shortage occupations and reforming the Shortage Occupation List.
• More than doubling the minimum income for family visas to £38,700.