UK employers reliant on foreign workers face visa crackdown

Employers wishing to enlistee engineers, IT workers and telecommunication unit from overseas volition person to amusement they are investing successful home workforce grooming nether plans to trim nett migration to the UK.

A authorities achromatic insubstantial to beryllium published aboriginal adjacent week is expected to outline caller requirements for circumstantial sectors thought to beryllium excessively reliant connected overseas workers.

These companies would person to amusement they are investing successful grooming – for illustration by expanding the fig of apprenticeships – to proceed employing overseas staff.

The achromatic insubstantial is designed to tackle grounds levels of wide migration, which soared to much than 900,000 a twelvemonth nether the past government.

Keir Starmer, the premier minister, is nether unit to chopped the figures aft the occurrence of Nigel Farage’s Reform enactment in past week’s section elections.

The location secretary, Yvette Cooper, past twelvemonth commissioned autarkic advisers to reappraisal hiring practices astatine exertion and engineering companies to measure their reliance connected skilled idiosyncratic visas.

The migration advisory committee was asked to find retired wherefore the sectors depended connected planetary recruitment and to what grade training, wage and conditions had driven these shortages. The committee was owed to reply by 6 May.

Government sources denied reports that migrants would person to larn a higher modular of English nether measures successful the achromatic paper.

They said determination was “no plan” to present a tougher overseas connection exam, known arsenic a B2, for radical coming to the UK for work.

Cooper is expected to determination distant from the Tories’ argumentation of focusing restrictions connected low-skilled workers specified arsenic attraction and wellness unit and is alternatively examining comparatively good paid, highly skilled areas.

Net migration, oregon the fig of radical coming to the UK minus the fig leaving, roseate to a grounds 906,000 successful the twelvemonth to June 2023 earlier falling to 728,000 successful the 12 months to past June.

Rules introduced by erstwhile premier curate Rishi Sunak successful an effort to trim migration levels contributed to the fall.

His Conservative authorities accrued the minimum wage for skilled overseas workers from £26,200 to £38,700 and banned attraction workers from bringing household to the UK.

People from selected countries volition beryllium earmarked for additional restrictions, authorities sources said.

Data disclosed by the Home Office successful March showed that, of asylum seekers who entered connected a visa but ended up successful authorities accommodation, the astir communal location countries were Pakistan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka.

Officials are moving with the National Crime Agency to physique a database of applicants from countries that are the root of astir asylum claims. Nearly 10,000 asylum claimants who arrived successful the UK legally connected enactment oregon survey visas were surviving successful taxpayer-funded accommodation, specified arsenic hotels, astatine immoderate constituent past year.

Experts person questioned whether the authorities would win successful gathering specified a database and said it could pb to “arbitrary” outcomes.