The United Kingdom is overhauling its immigration system in the wake of its exit from the European Union in order to attract “the brightest and best” migrants.
The British government will implement a points-based immigration system starting in January 2021 that will shift the focus of the economy “away from a reliance on cheap labor from Europe.”
“We’re ending free movement, taking back control of our borders, and delivering on the people’s priorities,” Home Secretary Priti Patel said.
The system will give priority to scientists, academics, and other highly skilled workers and will reduce “overall migration numbers,” Patel said. She added that it aims to create a “highly productive, highly efficient, and highly dynamic economy.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in 2019 that the government would implement the points-based system, which determines visa eligibility by whether the applicant is able to reach a minimum number of requirements.
The Home Office laid out that migrants will need a sponsor, have a job offer at an appropriate skill level, and must speak English. The minimum salary threshold will be about $26,500.
Seventy points will be required for a visa. The system, for example, will assign 10 points for English proficiency, 20 points for salaries above about $33,150, and 20 points for a Ph.D. in a relevant subject. A job offer in an area where the U.K. is facing a shortage of workers, such as nursing, is worth 20 points.
The government said it will not create a specific route for low-skilled workers. A study from the Migration Advisory Committee, a nongovernmental body that advises the U.K. government, found that 70% of European Economic Area citizens who have come to the U.K. since 2004 would be ineligible for a visa under the new rules.
However, at least 3.2 million EU citizens who have already settled in the U.K. will be permitted to stay and work. EU citizens have until July 2021 to apply to the system.
Opposition parties within the U.K. are not on board with the plan.
Tens of thousands of EU citizens work in our struggling NHS and care for people who are old, sick or have disabilities.
There simply aren’t queues of British people waiting to take on those jobs. So who will do them? The Government has no answer.https://t.co/1vRLta8Gyv
— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) February 19, 2020
“There simply aren’t queues of British people waiting to take on those jobs. So who will do them?” Liberal Democrats asked.
The leader of the Scottish National Party, Nicola Sturgeon, also called the plans “offensive” and “existentially disastrous for Scotland.”
