UK Government Tightens Visa Rules to Reduce Migration
The UK government has introduced new rules to restrict visas for foreign nationals, aiming to reduce migration levels. According to the BBC, the impact of these restrictions on the number of asylum applications is "likely to be quite small". Prof Jonathan Portes, a senior fellow at the academic think tank UK in a Changing Europe, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the government’s primary goal is to reduce asylum claims that are perceived to be abusive.
The new rules come as the UK faces record-high asylum claims, with over 108,000 people claiming asylum in the UK last year, according to the latest Home Office figures. This represents the highest level since records began in 1979. Pakistani nationals made up the largest group of asylum claimants, with 10,542 individuals claiming asylum, followed by 2,862 Sri Lankan nationals and 2,841 Nigerian nationals.
The UK government has been under pressure to reduce migration levels, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promising to tackle both illegal and legal migration. However, he has declined to offer a net migration target, citing the ineffectiveness of arbitrary caps in the past. Instead, Labour’s plans to reduce migration include making it a criminal offence to endanger the lives of others at sea, targeting small boat crossings, and cutting demand for overseas hires by developing training plans for sectors that are currently reliant on migrant workers.
The number of international students in the UK has also been on the rise, with 732,285 students recorded in 2023/24. India and China were the top two countries of origin for international students, with 107,480 and 98,400 students respectively. However, the number of UK work and study visas dropped in 2024 compared to the previous year.
According to the BBC, the Home Office has not published statistics on exit checks since 2020 due to a review into the accuracy of the figures. This has raised concerns about the number of foreign nationals overstaying their visas. Prof Portes noted that the government is trying to reduce abuse of the system, particularly in cases where individuals come to the UK as students but then switch to the asylum route.
The previous Conservative government introduced new rules to reduce migration levels, including increasing the minimum salary for skilled overseas workers and banning care workers from bringing family dependants to the UK. These changes appear to have contributed to a fall in net migration, which dropped to 728,000 in the year to June 2024. The BBC reports that Sir Keir Starmer has criticised the previous Conservative government, saying it failed to deliver lower net migration numbers "by design, not accident".
As the UK government continues to grapple with the issue of migration, it remains to be seen whether the new visa rules will have a significant impact on reducing asylum claims. According to the BBC, the government is focused on reducing abuse of the system, but it is unclear which nationalities are most likely to overstay their visas. With the issue of migration set to remain a contentious topic, the government will face ongoing pressure to deliver on its promises to reduce migration levels.
The new visa rules are part of a broader effort to reduce migration levels, and it will be closely watched by experts and the public alike. A key question is whether the new rules will be effective in reducing asylum claims, and what impact they will have on the UK’s economy and society.
The BBC also reports that many exits from the UK can go unrecorded, meaning those without a departure record were not necessarily still in the country.
