U.K. Reviewing Foreign Worker Reliance in Key Sectors

The trebling of net migration in the U.K. since 2019 reflects a failure over many years to tackle skills shortages and other problems in the U.K. labour market, the Home Secretary says

The Home Secretary ordered a review of two key immigration provisions that partly reflect a shift in strategy by tying foreign worker visas to local skills development as the Labour government moves to curb surging migration in the United Kingdom.

Yvette Cooper asked the Migration Advisory Committee to evaluate the continuing reliance of key sectors, particularly information technology and engineering, to international recruitment as well as of the new minimum income requirement of £29,000 to sponsor a foreign spouse, the Home Office said in a statement.

Information technology and engineering are ``occupations which have consistently, over a decade or more, been included on shortage occupation lists and relied on significant levels of international recruitment,’’ she said in the statement July 30.

The reviews are a part of the Labour government’s new strategy to not use immigration as an alternative to training or tackling workforce problems in the U.K. The trebling of net migration in the U.K. since 2019, driven mainly by skilled workers, reflects a failure over many years to tackle skills shortages and other problems in the U.K. labour market, so that too many sectors have remained reliant on international recruitment, instead of being able to source skills at home, Cooper said.

New foreign workers as a percentage of the workforce in information technology and engineering were in the top 10 of all occupational groups, she said.

Net migration, the number of people immigrating to the U.K. minus those emigrating, climbed to a record 764,000 in 2022, about three times the annual average before the pandemic. Net migration fell 10 percent in 2023 to 685,000, the Office of National Statistics said last month, but was still well above pre-pandemic levels.

The Home Secretary also commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee to review the minimum income requirement of £29,000 to sponsor a foreign spouse set in the Family Immigration Rules. The requirement ``need to balance a respect for family life whilst also ensuring the economic wellbeing of the U.K. is maintained’’ and there will be no changes to the threshold until the review is complete, she said.

The U.K. announced December 4 it would raise the minimum annual income required to bring a foreign spouse into the country to £38,700 from £18,600 but rolled that back £29,000 the following month after protests against the move. It said the rise would take place in stages. It estimated then that about 10,000 to 30,000 people will no longer qualify for the visa.

According to the Home Office statement the Migration Advisory Committee will work with Skills England, the Industrial Strategy Council, and the Labour Market Advisory Board as part of a new framework to support a coherent approach to skills, migration and labour market policy. To tackle labour market challenges in all parts of the U.K., these bodies will engage and work closely with the Devolved Governments.

The Labour Party manifesto had said the party will reform the points-based immigration system so that it is fair and properly managed, with appropriate restrictions on visas, and by linking immigration and skills policy.

If you are considering applying for a visa for the U.K. it might be sensible to act sooner rather than later. There is no knowing how these prospective changes might impact you. One thing is pretty certain: that getting into the U.K. and achieving permanent residency will not get any easier.