The UK has seen a dramatic fall in the number of workers, students and their families applying for visas to enter the country, according to provisional figures from the Home Office. The number of migrants applying for visas and their relatives fell from around 141,000 in July 2023 to 91,000 in August 2024. The UK government introduced rule changes to reduce immigration levels to legal net migration levels which soared to a record-breaking 764,000 in 2022. Two years later, legal net migration levels fell by 10%, but it is unknown whether this will lead to a long-term trend.
The Home Office stated that immigration brought “many benefits” but it must be controlled through a fair and structured system. The department spokesperson further outlined the importance of training up the homegrown workforce and addressing the shortage of skills in the UK, especially in the health and social care sector. However, the sector is seeing staff leaving to return home or move to countries with a less hostile environment around immigration.
The new visa rules were introduced by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, banning most international students from bringing their dependants with them. The government also raised the minimum salary for skilled overseas workers wanting to enter the UK; applicants need to accrue 70 points under the points system introduced in 2020. Points can be earned through having a job offer in a sector where there is a shortage or holding a PhD. The Migration Observatory think tank stated the recent data from the Home Office illustrated no clear impact from raising the minimum salary threshold.
The decline in international students applying for visas could potentially cause financial struggles for UK universities, which are already facing intense pressures due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit. During 2021, immigration rules were relaxed for care workers to ease recruitment problems caused by Brexit. However, these workers were soon banned from bringing their family members to the UK by then-Home Secretary James Cleverly, as part of efforts to reduce legal net migration numbers. The government also proposed raising the salary threshold for workers to bring family members to the UK but faced a backlash. This resulted in reducing the threshold to £29,000, and Yvette Cooper announced last month that the threshold would remain until a review by the Migration Advisory Committee was conducted
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