[UK] Breaking down the new immigration scheme

Negotiations over fishing rights for the Brexit deal - which was finalised by the close of 2020 - continued until the eleventh hour. However, as Prospect reports, it was another issue that spurred the modern Eurosceptic movement. 

Increasing numbers of voters between 2001 and 2016 said immigration was the most important issue facing the country. The figure peaked at 56 per cent in September 2015. Immigration was the driving force behind UKIP’s “purple wave” and, later, the Brexit vote, linking directly to the “take back control” slogan. (Link via original reporting)

Now the UK has brought freedom of movement to an end and introduced new rules for both EU and non-EU immigrants. On January 1, 2021, the new legislation came into force. Jonathan Portes of King’s College London reportedly called it the “most fundamental change in at least 20, maybe 40 years” in this area of policy. 

The new rules revise the “points-based system” first unveiled for non-EU migrants by Liam Byrne in 2007 and since espoused by Nigel Farage. The main corridor for immigrants from all countries (except the Republic of Ireland which retains a common travel area with the UK) is now the Skilled Worker visa. To qualify, applicants must have a job offer, speak English, have A-Level equivalent qualifications and meet a salary threshold of £25,600 or the going rate for their profession; whichever is higher.

The salary threshold is lowered to a floor of £20,480 for occupations with shortages in the UK - such as education - and the specific Health and Care Worker Visa also uses this figure for many NHS jobs. There are narrower routes for accomplished and entrepreneurial individuals (the Global Talent and Start-up visas), a Youth Mobility visa for two years for 18-30-year-old people from specific countries (mainly in the Commonwealth and East Asia) and a graduate route which allows two years’ residence after a university course.

Negotiations over fishing rights for the Brexit deal - which was finalised by the close of 2020 - continued until the eleventh hour. However, as Prospect reports, it was another issue that spurred the modern Eurosceptic movement. 

Increasing numbers of voters between 2001 and 2016 said immigration was the most important issue facing the country. The figure peaked at 56 per cent in September 2015. Immigration was the driving force behind UKIP’s “purple wave” and, later, the Brexit vote, linking directly to the “take back control” slogan. (Link via original reporting)

Now the UK has brought freedom of movement to an end and introduced new rules for both EU and non-EU immigrants. On January 1, 2021, the new legislation came into force. Jonathan Portes of King’s College London reportedly called it the “most fundamental change in at least 20, maybe 40 years” in this area of policy. 

The new rules revise the “points-based system” first unveiled for non-EU migrants by Liam Byrne in 2007 and since espoused by Nigel Farage. The main corridor for immigrants from all countries (except the Republic of Ireland which retains a common travel area with the UK) is now the Skilled Worker visa. To qualify, applicants must have a job offer, speak English, have A-Level equivalent qualifications and meet a salary threshold of £25,600 or the going rate for their profession; whichever is higher.

The salary threshold is lowered to a floor of £20,480 for occupations with shortages in the UK - such as education - and the specific Health and Care Worker Visa also uses this figure for many NHS jobs. There are narrower routes for accomplished and entrepreneurial individuals (the Global Talent and Start-up visas), a Youth Mobility visa for two years for 18-30-year-old people from specific countries (mainly in the Commonwealth and East Asia) and a graduate route which allows two years’ residence after a university course.