The Home Office has announced new English language requirements for migrants, as part of a broader effort to reform the British immigration system. A UK-based charity criticized the move, saying it arbitrarily moved the goal posts for integration.
New rules announced by the Home Office on October 14, stated that migrants applying through select routes to the UK must achieve an upper-intermediate level in speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
The rules will come into force for new applicants beginning on January 8, 2026, and will affect some graduates and those applying for what's known as 'Skilled Worker,' 'High Potential Individual,' and 'Scale-up' visas, which are for people employed by rapidly expanding companies.
The policy shift comes after a summer of violent anti-migrant protests and an increase in small boat migration. Workers' rights groups claimed the new requirements would reinforce false stereotypes and add another set of hurdles for immigrants to the UK.
"By the government’s own admission, most migrant workers are already fluent in English," wrote the CEO of Work Rights center Dr. Dora-Olivia Vicol in an email to InfoMigrants.
"Increasing English language requirements from intermediate to upper intermediate won't make any difference to integration – this is already happening. It will simply make migrants feel less welcome and reinforce false stereotypes," she added.
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Language helps contribute to society, says Home Secretary
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said, "This country has always welcomed those who come to this country and contribute. But it is unacceptable for migrants to come here without learning our language, [and are then] unable to contribute to our national life."
Yet a recently published evaluation of the Skilled Worker visa route by the Home Office found that 69 percent of visa holders said that they could already speak English very well before arriving in the UK, with significant improvements made during their stay in the UK.
Ben Brindle, a researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, agreed that the new requirements were unlikely to affect people with skilled visas. "Their language skills probably already meet the new standards. On the other hand, the new rules will probably affect the dependents of skilled workers and the partners of British citizens," he said.
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Reducing annual immigration
Increasing English language requirements for skilled workers and introducing requirements for adult dependents is predicted to reduce annual immigration by about 6,000 a year, according to an assessment published in the white paper.
Migrant workers arriving under the Skilled Worker route already had to prove they had a B1 level of English, in accordance with the Common European Framework for Reference for Languages (CEFR). The new changes raise the standard to a B2 level, requiring people to spontaneously interact and understand the main ideas of a complex text. Adult dependents of workers and students weren’t previously expected to speak English, but the new rules will require them to reach an A1 basic level.
Observers fear changing the language requirements to make migrants learn English to a high standard could bring about challenges on the practical side. "There will be an increased demand for English courses, but there won’t be a supply from the government to provide that," said Brindle.
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Alternative strategies?
On the other hand, "both British citizens and migrants consider that better language skills lead to better economic outcomes," said Brindle. "Studies have also shown that those with higher English language proficiency have more trust in their neighbors."
In the aftermath of Brexit, successive governments in the UK have sought to attract skilled workers while decreasing net immigration. Making sure migrants speak good English and enabling employers to hire workers who are expected to bring economic benefit could be a difficult balancing act for the current Labour government.
"The government would be wiser to look to other parts of the white paper where it promised to explore making sponsored visas more flexible for the benefit of both employers and workers," said Vicol.
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