Politics

NEW HOME SECRETARY JAMES CLEVERLY'S IMMIGRATION POLICY REQUIRES MIGRANTS TO EARN AT LEAST £38K BEFORE ENTERING THE UK

NEW HOME SECRETARY JAMES CLEVERLY'S IMMIGRATION POLICY REQUIRES MIGRANTS TO EARN AT LEAST £38K BEFORE ENTERING THE UK
Politics

NEW HOME SECRETARY JAMES CLEVERLY'S IMMIGRATION POLICY REQUIRES MIGRANTS TO EARN AT LEAST £38K BEFORE ENTERING THE UK

NEW HOME SECRETARY JAMES CLEVERLY'S IMMIGRATION POLICY REQUIRES MIGRANTS TO EARN AT LEAST £38K BEFORE ENTERING THE UK

The Tory Government has announced a five-point-plan in order to cut down on immigration.

It has been just three weeks since James Cleverly replaced Suella Braverman has Home Secretary, with pressures rising for the politician to tackle the issue of immigration in the UK.

After the Rwanda deportation scheme was axed after being dubbed "unlawful" by the Supreme Court, Cleverly has unveiled new plans to tackle immigration.

Cleverly claims his new five-point plan is more "robust" that previous plans, with changes to health and care visas, skilled worker visas, family visas, the shortage occupation list and student visas being afoot.

The new measures are as follows:

HEALTH AND CARE VISAS

Overseas care workers will no longer be able to bring family dependants to the UK, in an attempt to minimise "abuse of the health and care visa". Care firms that wish to sponsor people for visa applications must be regulated by the Care Quality Commission. According to the government, a dependant can be a husband or wife/civil partner, a romantic partner, or any children under the age of 18.

SKILLED WORKER MINIMUM SALARY

The skilled worker earnings threshold will increase by nearly 50% from £26,200 to £38,700, however, health and care workers will still be able to earn less before applying.

SHORTAGE OCCUPATION LIST

The government wishes to "scrap cut-price shortage labour from overseas" by changing the process in which people working in short-staffed sectors can apply to come to the UK. This will include scrapping the 20% discount applied to the minimum salary for people seeking visas for shortage occupations. The range of jobs on the list will also be reviewed and cut down.

FAMILY VISAS

The minimum household income threshold for a family visa will be raised to £38,700 to "ensure people only bring dependants whom they can support financially". It has been at the rate of £18,600 since 2012.

STUDENT VISAS

Following restrictions on those wishing to bring over family members on student visas earlier this year, the government will ask the Migration Advisory Committee to review the graduate route "to prevent abuse and protect the integrity and quality of UK higher education".

Cleverly claimed the new immigration measures would mean that 300,000 people who entered the UK last year would not have been able to, if his plan had been in place.

He also announced plans to increase the immigration health surcharge from £624 to £1,035.

Cleverly said: "When our country voted to leave the European Union, we voted to take back control of our borders. Thanks to this government, we now have a points-based immigration system through which we control who comes to the UK.

We prioritise the skills and talent we need to grow our economy and support our NHS - and we have a competitive visa system for globally-mobile talent."

He added: "Immigration policy must be fair, consistent, legal, and sustainable."

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