Radical reforms to Britain’s immigration system, restoring control to our borders and reducing record-high levels of net migration have been set out.

• White Paper raises skill thresholds to graduate-level (RQF 6) with higher salaries required, abolishing the immigration salary discount list entirely.
• The government is establishing a new labour market evidence group to make informed decisions about workforce needs, rather than defaulting to migration, engaging sector bodies across government.
• White Paper ends overseas social care recruitment with transition until 2028, allowing only visa extensions for those already in the UK while the workforce strategy is developed.s
• New reforms require employers seeking overseas workers to demonstrate a commitment to increasing domestic recruitment where there are genuine long-term shortages.
• White Paper cuts post-study work period from 2 years to 18 months, while strengthening requirements for institutions sponsoring international students.

Measures unveiled in the immigration white paper published today (Monday 12 May) will reshape our immigration system towards those who contribute most to economic growth, with higher skills standards for graduates and workers. 

New requirements on employers to boost domestic training will end the reliance on international recruitment, restoring order to a failed system that saw net migration quadruple between 2019 and 2023. 

Key policies in the 82 page blueprint, titled Restoring Control over the Immigration System, include the following: 

• reversing the long-term trend of increasing international recruitment at the expense of skills and training
• the labour market evidence group will be established, drawing on the best data available in order to make informed decisions about the state of the labour market and the role that different policies should play, rather than always relying on migration
• departments across government will engage sector bodies as part of this approach

Raising Skilled Worker threshold, skilled must mean skilled 

Lifting the level for skilled workers back to RQF 6 (Graduate level) and above. Salary thresholds will rise.

The immigration salary list, which gives people discounts from salary thresholds, will be abolished. 

Access to the points-based immigration system will be limited to occupations where there have been long term shortages, on a time limited basis, where the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has advised it is justified, where there is a workforce strategy in place, and where employers seeking to recruit from abroad are committed to playing their part in increasing recruitment from the domestic workforce.

Adult social care 

End overseas recruitment for social care visas. In line with our wider reforms to skills thresholds, we will close social care visas to new applications from abroad.  

For a transition period until 2028, while the workforce strategy is being developed and rolled out, we will permit visa extensions and in-country switching for those already here. This will be kept under review. 

Study 

We will strengthen the requirements that all sponsoring institutions must meet in order to recruit international students.

We will introduce new interventions for sponsors who are close to failing their sponsor duties, including placing them on an action plan designed to improve their compliance, and imposing limits on the number of new international students they can recruit while they are subject to those plans. 

We will reduce the ability for graduates to remain in the UK after their studies to a period of 18 months.

Family 

We will tackle the over complex family and private life immigration arrangements, where too many cases are treated as ‘exceptional’ rather than having a clear framework. 

Legislation will be brought forward to make clear it is the government and Parliament that decides who should have the right to remain in the UK. This will address cases where Article 8 right to family life legal arguments are being used to frustrate deportation where removal is clearly in the public interest. 

Growth  

We will go further in ensuring that the very highly skilled have opportunities to come to the UK and access our targeted routes for the brightest and best global talent.

This includes increasing the number of people arriving on our very high talent routes, alongside faster routes for bringing people to the UK who have the right skills and experience to supercharge UK growth in strategic industries.

This includes increasing places to our scheme for research interns, making it easier for top scientific and design talent to use our Global Talent visa, and reviewing our Innovator Founder visa and High Potential Individual route to maximise their benefit to the UK economy. 

Tackling abuse 

New policies will apply to individuals who claim asylum where conditions in their home country have not materially changed, particularly where they have claimed asylum after arrival. 

Tighter visa controls, restrictions, requirements or scrutiny will be applied where we have evidence of abuse, based on a clear assessment of the risks. 

Measures to ensure that other governments play their part in supporting the integrity of the UK immigration system – particularly where there are currently barriers in the way of us returning their nationals. 

Innovative financial measures, penalties or sanctions, including for sponsors of migrant workers or students where there is evidence of abuse. These will incentivise them to act responsibly, with new measures to support compliance with visa conditions by migrants.

Foreign national offenders (FNOs) 

Reform the deportation system to ensure the Home Office is informed of all foreign nationals convicted of offences – not just those who go to prison.  

Review deportation thresholds to take into account a wider range of factors than just the length of sentence, and start by revising the statutory exceptions criteria to ensure that the deportation test reflects the seriousness of violence against women and girls.  

English language 

Introduce new English language requirements across a broader range of immigration routes, for both main applicants and their dependants, to ensure a better knowledge of English, including an assessment of improvements over time.  

Earned settlement and citizenship 

Double the standard qualifying period for settlement to 10 years. 

Expand the points-based system to both our settlement and citizenship rules, so they are based on contribution to the UK, with further details to be set out to Parliament by the end of the year. 

The policies outlined, part of the government’s Plan for Change, will be delivered over the course of this Parliament to strengthen the UK’s immigration system, with the first changes set to be introduced in the coming weeks. 

The government will publish further reforms to the asylum system and border security later this summer, building on measures in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill currently progressing through Parliament.

Sector Reaction

Rain Newton-Smith, Chief Executive, CBI said:

“Following months of speculation, businesses now have important clarity on how the government plans to change immigration rules.

“Many of the principles running through the Prime Minister’s speech will be supported by businesses, including taking a targeted approach to legal migration and resisting an arbitrary target. Employers will welcome a stronger link between skills and immigration policies because their preference is to recruit and train from the domestic workforce whenever they can. Key to this will be delivering promised reform of the Apprenticeship Levy to unlock much-needed investment in a wider range of quality, non-apprenticeship training.

“Businesses should not be long-term reliant on immigration to deliver growth, but immigration policy is preventing businesses from accessing critical skills to deliver investment, putting at risk growth and jobs in the rest of their workforce. 

“The reality for businesses is that it is more expensive and difficult to fill a vacancy with immigration than if they could hire locally or train workers. Work visas already require higher pay than most domestic workers get for the same job. When considered alongside the large fees and accompanying charges, foreign workers are simply not the ‘easy’ or ‘cheap’ alternative.

“Universities are centres of growth, innovation and opportunities. Policy changes that risk making the UK a less attractive place to study or increase costs confronting universities will have knock-on impacts for the competitive strength of UK Higher Education as a growth export, and young people’s ability to access degree-level education at home. These trade-offs need to be considered if the government is serious about developing domestic talent and driving growth.

“Businesses will also carefully consider the detail of proposals to limit visas for skilled jobs below degree level. Labour shortages can’t be solved by training alone. With the UK’s workforce set to shrink in the future as our population ages, it’s more important than ever that we support the business investment needed to underpin tech adoption and training.

“Addressing the increasing cost of doing business and finding the right landing zone for policies like the Employment Rights Bill will be vital to ensure businesses have the headroom to invest in skills and training.”

University and College Union (UCU) general secretary Jo Grady said:

“This anti-growth white paper is straight out of the Reform playbook. With higher education already under severe financial pressure, any further restrictions which deter international students from coming to the UK  could lead to universities going under.

“To stand any chance of staying in power, Labour must cease trying to be Reform-light and instead begin prioritising the investment that will improve working people’s lives. The Home Office needs to stop imposing arbitrary restrictions that prevent international students and staff from coming to the UK, driving economic growth and enriching local communities.  Its failure to do so will harm universities, the country and our global standing.”

Rosalind Gill, Head of Policy at NCUB, commented:

“While the Bill makes notable strides in recognising the need for skilled overseas talent and aligning the UK’s migration system to its Industrial Strategy, its impact on universities and companies relying on top global talent cannot be overlooked. We face significant change that threatens both higher education and the investment of many of the UK’s most successful businesses.”

“Businesses describe the UK’s universities as one of our greatest strategic assets and reasons to invest here. To drive long-term economic growth, the UK must foster a robust, diverse, and globally connected university sector, alongside creating an environment for innovative companies to flourish. The Immigration Bill poses major risks to this vision.”

Graduate Visas and International Student Levy

“It’s further restrictions on Graduate Visas, and a new international student levy, will jeopardise the sustainability and global connectivity of UK universities. International students are significant contributors to the UK, fuelling research, innovation, and global partnerships. The Bill’s curbs will diminish our competitiveness in the global education market, undermining the vital contributions that universities make to both the economy and national prosperity.”

“Recent changes to international student dependent visas have already led to an 85% reduction in issued visas and a significant decrease in international fee income, estimated at £1.1bn over two years. Further restrictions in this space now – without amendments to the university funding model – just undermine the financial stability of universities and their ability to contribute to economic growth.”

“The UK’s most R&D-driven and innovative companies and universities thrive by attracting top global talent researchers, entrepreneurs, and innovators. This is a testament to our country’s global appeal. However, the multifaceted impacts of the Bill could deter talent. There are also growing concerns that key provisions in the Immigration Bill could impose a stealth tax on our most innovative businesses, undermining the UK’s attractiveness as a hub for new companies and investment.”

Simon Kenny, Immigration Partner at law firm Spencer West, said:

“The Government’s intention to reduce net migration is apparent, but I feel restriction of the Skilled Worker and Student immigration categories further will hinder their objective that highly skilled migrants have a positive impact on the labour market.  Employment-based immigration is highly regulated already, with employers spending many thousands of pounds to ensure Skilled Workers and Global Business Mobility employees can come to the UK.  Severe penalties are imposed if they get this wrong. 

Sponsorship outside the Health and Care Worker category is actually a small percentage of total net migration to the UK – about 85,000 such visas were issued in 2024 – and restricting this further may deter those workers who could make a positive economic contribution.  Increasing the qualification period for settlement to ten years is, in my view, likely to deter many graduate-level employees who would otherwise seek to migrate to the UK.  I think raising salary thresholds further and increasing the Immigration Skills Charge by 32% are likely to be a more significant barrier to sponsorship.”

Nick Hillman, Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), said:

“The idea of a levy on international students will be deeply controversial, just as it has been in Australia where a debate has been raging on this idea for months. A levy will be seen by many as a tax on a very successful UK export sector.

“There will also be concerns that some of the money raised will be siphoned off by the Treasury – just as has happened with the Apprenticeship Levy. It is easy to see why Ministers like the idea of getting better-off universities to help less well-off universities but it would take years to set up a successful levy and could come too late for some.

“We also need to be live to the risk that a levy could encourage the Office for National Statistics to reclassify universities as part of the public sector, which would provide a major new headache to Ministers.

“Some of the other ideas on students and graduates included in the white paper are also problematic. Reducing the Graduate Route visa from two years to 18 months is, admittedly, not as bad as abolishing it. But employers who recruit international students using the Graduate Route wanted to see an increase to three or four years, rather than a reduction, as new employees take months to become productive members of the workforce.

“We are told the toughening up of the Basic Compliance Assessment imposed on higher education institutions must happen because ‘it is clear the current thresholds are too lenient’, but it is not at all clear this is the case. Finding the best match between an international applicant and an institution is a slow and difficult process – for example, an applicant might be weighing up offers from universities in more than one country. A university with a course enrolment rate of 96% is not obviously a much better institution than one with a course enrolment of 94% whatever the Home Office might think.

“International students enrich the intellectual, financial and social aspects of university life, as HEPI has shown repeatedly over many years through a series of different projects. UK students flourish when international students flourish, so I hope the Government will listen carefully to people’s concerns in response to the white paper, just as it is also incumbent on universities to recognise the public’s concerns about recent levels of high net inward migration.”

Ben Willmott, head of public policy at the CIPD, said:

“Plans to reform the immigration system need to go hand in hand with a long-term workforce strategy to ensure employers can find workers with the skills they need to drive productivity and economic growth. This should include an ambitious new skills strategy designed to help address the root causes of skills shortages in the economy.  

“The potential changes announced today would further tighten the rules on the recruitment of overseas workers and leave employers in some sectors such as social care and construction questioning how they will find the workers needed to keep essential services going.  

“The idea that employers mainly recruit migrant workers because they don’t want to spend money training UK workers is just wrong. Our research has consistently shown that it’s employers recruiting from overseas that are most likely to be investing in the UK-born workforce, for example through apprenticeships and hiring from disadvantaged groups.  

“We won’t tackle the underlying causes of why employers recruit overseas workers in such numbers until we reform our flawed and underfunded, vocational education and training system and offer better careers guidance to young people. We must also address the collapse in apprenticeships which lies at the heart of many of the skills shortages employers are facing. 

“At the same time, sector bodies and employers need to invest in strategic workforce planning and development so they can work more effectively with colleges and other training providers to tackle vocational skills shortages at a sector and regional level.” 

David Hughes, Chief Executive, Association of Colleges said:

“Today’s immigration White Paper rightly recognises the need to grow our domestic skills and training provision to support priority sectors of the economy. Key elements of the new proposals are welcome, such as the use of the Immigration Skills Charge and the establishment of the Labour Market Evidence Group.

“It is also good to see the Prime Minister recognise the historic underinvestment in skills from both the government and many employers. With 8.5 million adults lacking basic literacy and numeracy skills, and millions economically inactive, it is imperative that we reverse this trend and provide realistic opportunities for people to get the skills that will help them fill skills vacancies. 

6% Levy on International Students

“We commended the £625 million investment in construction announced in March as a blueprint for the type of investment packages needed in other key skills shortage sectors because it showed new and significant investment from the government as well as a commitment from employers to partner with colleges in order to ensure they have the workforce they need. We would like to see the government utilise the skilled migrant visa fee and the 6% levy on international students to fund similar initiatives for other sectors of the economy as well as funding more English as a Second Language (ESOL) courses. We propose that these charges be appropriated for skills investment through colleges, and we would like to see this included in the upcoming Spending Review. This collaboration can help attract people into their sectors, open up work placements, offer support for teaching, and take on more young apprentices.

“The findings of our ESOL report from January emphasised the importance of delivering those courses for employability. Supporting those already living and working in this country to improve their language competency is crucial for their integration into communities and their contribution to the economy.

“Every college is eager to work in partnership with more employers to help them boost domestic talent. Colleges are the pipeline into training and jobs, and by working closely with businesses, we can ensure that our workforce is equipped with the skills needed for the future.”

Fiona Aldridge, CEO of Skills Federation on the publication of the Immigration White Paper yesterday.

“Today’s Immigration White Paper rightly recognises that while migration has a role to play in helping the UK meet its labour market and skills shortages, it should be seen a complement – not an alternative – to investing in the skills of British workers. 

“As such, it is vital that we reverse the decline in both public and employer investment in skills, seen in recent years. Alongside today’s commitment to consider how best to incentivise employers to invest more in training, the forthcoming spending review provides an important opportunity to focus public investment on developing workforce skills, including through Growth and Skills Levy flexibilities.

“Addressing the UK’s skills shortages will require both immediate action and effective long-term planning. As the voice of employer-led sector bodies, Skills Federation strongly supports the White Paper’s call to develop and implement workforce strategies and training plans for our key sectors and would urge government to work closely with sector bodies – drawing on their data, insight and employer networks – to ensure that we better meet the skills needs of people, places and industry across the UK.”