Recently released figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that migration to the UK was at a record high. Data published on November 23 revised the net migration for the year ending December 2022 upwards by 139,000 to 745,000. This caused consternation in government circles, which has consistently pledged to be tough on migration and bring the figures downwards, not up.

The reason for the upward revision, stated the ONS, was that the figures published in May did not take into account the year’s worth of travel data. The records are now available, allowing them to see if non-EU migrants who arrived with visas were staying long-term or not. The 12 months of travel data reveal that a greater number stayed than initially predicted.

Incidentally, the figures for EU immigration to the UK were revised downwards overall, by 35,000.

The right-wing tabloid The Sun reported over the weekend that "more new UK jobs were taken by non-EU migrants than by Brits last year." Three in five of new UK jobs (420,066) were going to migrants from outside the UK, The Sun wrote. 62% of these new employees came from countries such as "India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria," the newspaper added, giving the ONS as the source for these figures.

The NHS, care homes and seasonal farm work were the most common sectors employing non-EU migrants.

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Five-point plan on legal migration

The government’s immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, last week immediately called for tough measures to try and tackle the increase in migration into the country. This included limiting the number of skilled migrant visas and placing curbs on the number of dependents those migrants could legitimately bring into the country.

A revised government five-point plan was presented on Monday (December 4) and includes many of Jenrick's proposals. The plan is expected to take effect in spring 2024.

As announced by Home Secretary James Cleverly, the minimum salary threshold for foreigners applying for a skilled workers visa will be raised from £26,200 to £38,700 (about €30,563 to €45,143) -- just over a third more. Those coming on health and social care work visas will, for now, be exempt from the new measures. However, they would be prevented from bringing family dependents, Cleverly said.

An average nurse with no experience can earn as little as £22,383 (about €26,089). Even if they are exempt from the new rules, there are many other people employed in the hospital who were not mentioned, like hospital porters, orderlies and cleaners. These people tend to earn even less than nurses and also often form part of the migrant workforce.

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In addition to that, some foreign skilled workers coming into the UK on government schemes to attract workers in sectors experiencing shortages, one of which is health and social care, can expect to earn as much as 20% less than a British worker in the same position with the equivalent skills and experience.

Minimum income for spouses raised

In the new plan, according to the Electronic Immigration Network (EIN) -- a charity and the UK’s largest specialist provider of information on immigration and asylum case law -- the minimum income requirement for a spouse, will also be raised from £18,600 to £38,700 (between about €21,690 to €45,138).

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Anyone working in the care sector will not be allowed to bring dependents into the UK and care firms will now be required to be registered with the Care Quality Commission (the body that monitors standards in care homes) in order to sponsor visas.

The shortage occupation list, allowing a fast-track of visas for certain occupations, will be reformed and the current 20% going rate salary discount will be abolished.

Rules on students bringing in dependents tightened once more

Lastly, rules on students bringing family members into the UK will also be tightened. The Migration Advisory Committee is set to carry out a full review of the graduate visa route.

It is still unclear, notes EIN, if the new rules apply to those applying for renewals or only for new applications. Colin Yeo, a leading immigration barrister, founder of the Free Movement website and podcast, and the author of several books on immigration in the UK, thinks it will probably be applied to new entrants. However, many on X (formerly known as Twitter) expressed their disapproval of the new rules, pointing out that this would also affect British people who might want to bring a foreign spouse into the country. They too would need to be earning above the salary threshold to be able to have their partner join them.

Downing Street however has countered saying they want to deliver the "biggest reduction in net migration on record." James Cleverly has promised that once the rules apply, over 300,000 of the estimated 1.2 million people who moved to the UK in 2022 would now be unable to do so, reported EIN.

'Migration to this country is far too high and needs to come down'

In a statement to the House of Commons, James Cleverly repeated that "migration to this country is far too high and needs to come down." He said he wanted to "crack down on those who jump the queue and exploit our immigration system."

Referring to international students, Cleverly said that only postgraduate students in designated research programs might have the right to bring dependents. He said that Britain wanted to continue "to attract the global brightest and best," but that he was keen to stop students from switching from study to work routes before their studies are completed.

Cleverly claimed that the new measures would have a "tangible impact on net migration." In the year ending September 2023, 153,000 visas were issued to the dependents of sponsored students.

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Annual immigration health surcharge to rise

With regards to the number of foreign skilled workers employed in Britain’s National Health Service (NHS), Cleverly said that the government "recognizes that foreign workers do great work in our NHS and health sector, but it is also important that migrants make a big enough financial contribution."

To this end, Cleverly said he would increase the annual immigration health surcharge this year by 66% from £624 to £1,035 (between about €728 to €1,207). This would raise an "average of around £1.3 billion (about €1.5 billion) for the health services of this country every year."

Cleverly explained that his scrapping of the reduction in pay for foreign skilled workers was to "stop immigration undercutting the salaries of British workers."

Third UK Home Secretary flies to Rwanda

Meanwhile, Cleverly also flew to Rwanda this week to seal the government’s fresh attempts to reassure the UK’s courts that its plan to outsource asylum procedures to Rwanda should be considered safe and legal.

He told the news agency Reuters: "Rwanda cares deeply about the rights of refugees, and I look forward to meeting with counterparts to sign this agreement and further discuss how we work together to tackle the global challenge of illegal migration."

The current Home Secretary is the third person in that role to fly to Rwanda to try and shore up the deal, which was first announced by Home Secretary Priti Patel in April 2022.

According to Sky News and the right-wing broadsheet The Telegraph, the new Rwanda deal could include sending British lawyers to Rwanda’s courts, in a similar arrangement to Italy's agreement with Albania, where the reception facilities in Albania will operate under Italian laws and rules.

The costs of sending lawyers out to Rwanda to hear asylum applications have not yet been mentioned. Many critics of the Rwanda plan point out that even if it was fully operational, it would only account for a few thousand asylum seekers at best -- at a cost of millions of pounds. A drop in the ocean compared to the tens of thousands who have arrived in the UK from across the Channel in the last three years.

Also read: Britain considers next steps as Rwanda plan deemed unlawful

'Addressing concerns' of Supreme Court

The French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP) reported that the deal was expected to contain additional commitments from Rwanda "addressing concerns" raised in the Supreme Court’s ruling that the plan was unlawful.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote in the Sun on Tuesday "I'm fed up with our Rwanda police being blocked. I’ve got the government working on emergency laws to end the merry-go-round so that we can fix this problem once and for all –and stop the boats." In the past, the Sun has been considered crucial to swinging a Conservative victory at election time, as it is the paper of choice of a large part of the Conservative electorate.

Cleverly is expected to fly back from Rwanda within the day and to present new legislation designed to render the Rwanda plan legal in the British courts to Parliament on Wednesday.

Also read: UK government complicit in exploitation of farm workers, finds new report

Election hopes

Since it was announced, several other countries in Europe have been watching the Rwanda plan closely. If it were to succeed, some have expressed interest in creating similar off-shore solutions to their migration reception policies.

At the moment, according to polls in Britain, the opposition Labour party holds a double-digit lead. If it were to win the next election, it has said it would ditch the Rwanda plan immediately. Even if the current government succeeds in its attempts to render its plan legal, many experts believe the first flights are unlikely to take off before spring 2024, which would be around the time the next election is expected.

Labour’s shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has branded the government’s Rwanda plans as a "gimmick." Lawyers and organizations working with migrants, refugees and asylum seekers say they would challenge any attempt to call Rwanda a "safe country" in court.

With AFP, Reuters, AP

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