Summary
Today, the Labour Government have released their long-awaited Immigration White Paper. This paper explains the Government’s plans for immigration in the UK. It is not a legal document, and the changes have not started yet. It just sets out what the Government want to do while they are in power, and how they plan to do it.
This blog is our explainer of what we know so far and what we think about it.
This paper has a focus on ‘legal migration’ which covers people who come to the UK to work, study, and for some other reasons. This paper should not be confused with the ‘Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill’ that is currently passing through Parliament, which focuses on people to who come to the UK through dangerous routes to seek safety.
We know many of you may have woken up this morning, seen or heard the news, and are now feeling worried about what these changes might mean for you, your families, and the people you support. Along with the proposed policy changes has come more hostile and inflammatory language and rhetoric targeting migrants in the UK. Know that we stand with you.
At the moment, we don’t have all the details, but we will keep sharing what we know on our website and social media. Please follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, and LinkedIn to stay up to date.
This is not a comprehensive run through of all parts in the white paper – we are focusing on areas where we most work with people in the North West.
You can read the whole paper here, and Free Movement have gone into more detail about the proposed changes here.
Headlines
The government says it wants to reduce the number of people migrating to the UK, including for work, family reasons and for study.
Some of the biggest news headlines include:
- Increased English language requirements for people coming to the UK on a visa or as dependants
- Longer periods of time in the UK before people can settle and apply for citizenship so that it becomes “the norm” for people to be on a ten-year route to settlement
- A ban on people applying to come to the UK as care workers
Here is more detail about what we know and don’t know.
Social care, work visas and study visas
- The White Paper says the government will increase the skill and salary threshold for skilled worker visas to graduate level, to reduce the amount of people we recruit from overseas who have ‘lower’ level skills.
- They will also stop recruiting people on social care visas altogether, with a plan to increase pay and working conditions for UK workers.
- People who are already in the UK on care worker visas will be able to extend their visas, or to switch visas and sponsors, until 2028.
- They plan to tighten rules on study visas, by placing more restrictions on sponsoring institutions, and will reduce the time that Graduates can remain in the UK after their studies on a Graduate Visa to 18 months.
Family, Community and Cohesion
- The overall English language requirements will increase, including for skilled workers, and all dependants of workers and students.
- Routes to settlement for most people will now be 10 years rather than 5 years. People will also be able to reduce their route to settlement based on “contributions to the UK economy and society.”
- The government will continue to offer a shorter pathway to settlement (ILR) for non-UK dependents of British citizens to five years. They will also retain safeguards for victims of domestic violence and abuse.
- A new bereaved parent route, allowing people in the UK on the route of a parents of a British or settled child, but who have lost their child, to settle immediately.
- There will also be a refresh of the Life in the UK test and how it works.
Children and young people
- There is a commitment to support children who have been in the UK for some time and turn 18 without having their immigration status resolved. This will include children in care and care leavers.
- The government has also said it is considering removing costs to citizenship for young people who have been in the UK for most of their childhood.
Foreign National Offenders
Later this year, the government will set out plans so they can more easily take enforcement and removal action and revoke visas in a wider range of crimes where noncustodial sentences have been given.
Asylum and Refugees
This white paper is not specifically about asylum – but there were some announcements today that will impact people seeking asylum and refugees, including:
- Refugee Employment – the government has said some people who are recognised by UNHCR as refugees and living overseas will be able to apply for some employment.
There is no mention of giving people already claiming asylum in the UK the right to work.
- There have been media headlines about the government wanting to stop people applying for asylum if they come to the UK on a student visa. It’s unclear yet if and how this would happen.
- There will be a review of community sponsorship.
What we think about it
We spoke to our Action Group, the VOICE, about what getting indefinite leave to remain means for people on the 10-year route to settlement. They said:
Security is massive for me, especially with having children. I’ve been here since I was 6 years old… with everything they put us through, everything they have to pay, holding threats over our heads – we deserve it.
There’s a lot of time wasting on this route. Always counting. The government being able to change the rule at any time – you’re never settled. That’s anxiety every single day.
Getting it gives you a bit of certainty and just to feel like okay, I’m a bit settled now, I don’t have to worry about paying the fees every 2.5 years, you don’t need to do any of that anymore.
Today’s announcement could have been an opportunity to give more people that certainty, and to reset the national conversation on migration and community after years of unworkable policies. After last year’s riots we need policies that support community resilience, belonging and safety. Instead, with these announcements, our community members are being thrown under the bus.
We welcome any policy changes that make it easier for children and young people to settle and get citizenship in the UK – it’s what we and many others have been asking for years. But we are concerned that the government is making it harder for most people to get permanent settlement (indefinite leave to remain) in the UK. Putting vastly increased numbers of people on the 10-year route to settlement will only leave more people in insecurity and debt, with knock-on impacts on their children and our communities.
Any strategy that is serious about “integration” should recognise that it is already incredibly difficult and costly to settle in the UK. People on the 10-year route tell us it causes distress, financial hardship and debt. People being put through legal and financial hell by the immigration system do not simply disappear: but keeping them in poverty and instability makes our communities weaker.
Much of this plan is political posturing that goes directly against what our communities really need. The government have no credible plan to fill the 131,000 vacancies we have in the UK for care workers. Labour says they’re ‘fixing the system’, but blocking overseas care worker recruitment is a huge mistake. The care sector is in crisis, and this will only make things worse. A diverse workforce, and the flexibility for the people in it to not only work but be with family and build full lives here, benefits everyone.
Long-term residents being able to settle in the UK permanently is good for all of us. It means dedicated care workers being able to build lives here and bring stability to a floundering sector; it means the international students who are propping up our universities knowing that they can look forward to a career and life in the UK. Most importantly, people tell us what settlement means to them: security after long years of limbo.