The Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, announced the measures related to the immigration policy white paper in person today. (European Pressphoto Agency)

Today, the UK government will release the immigration policy white paper later, and further previews of its key contents were provided by the Prime Minister's Office after the Home Office. These include raising the English language proficiency and residency duration requirements for foreigners applying for permanent residency. The residency period requirement will be doubled from five years to ten years, and for the first time, adult dependents (including spouses) applying from overseas will be required to have basic English proficiency.

Once the visa validity period of the dependents' UK residency expires and they wish to apply for an extension, they must pass a more advanced English proficiency test.

According to the preview, all types of visas related to relocating to the UK will increase the English language proficiency requirements for applicants. Those who make special contributions to British society and the economy or particularly meet relevant needs, as well as foreign nationals with high professional or technical skills, will receive preferential treatment when applying for permanent residency. This applies to fields including but not limited to healthcare, nursing, engineering, artificial intelligence (AI), etc.

Currently, most visa categories allow holders to apply for permanent residency in the UK after five years of continuous residence, provided they meet other conditions such as financial capability. However, according to the new regulations, except for professionals who continuously and substantially contribute to British society and economy and meet specific standards, foreigners must at least reside legally in the UK for 10 years before applying for permanent residency.

The UK Prime Minister's Office stated that the entire immigration system will be comprehensively tightened, and the thresholds for working, studying, and family reunification visas will be raised. Prime Minister Keir Starmer will personally announce these measures today. He will emphasize that settling in the UK is a "privilege" that must be earned through effort, rather than a right anyone deserves.

Starmer will point out that for many years, the UK's immigration system has encouraged businesses to import lower-paid labor from abroad instead of investing in the younger generation of the UK. The core goal of the immigration policy white paper is to reduce the UK's net migration population (the difference between immigrants and emigrants), enhance the technical content of the UK labor market, and support British workers.

Starmer will mention that when others come to settle in the UK, they should strive to integrate into the local society and economy and "learn our language."

The UK's net migration population once approached one million in 2023, meaning there were nearly one million more immigrants than emigrants.

The Prime Minister's Office stated that a large influx of foreign migrants has put pressure on the UK public service system, driven up housing prices, and made property owners prefer hiring cheaper foreign labor over investing in developing the professional capabilities of British workers. For example, in fields like engineering, the number of apprenticeship opportunities available to the general public in the UK labor market has decreased by nearly half in recent years, while the number of work visas issued to foreigners has doubled.

The Prime Minister's Office pointed out that the UK will still remain open to the world's best talents, but the era of solving "avoidable" skill shortages by recruiting large numbers of workers from abroad will soon end.

According to the plan, the UK government will establish a "Labor Market Evidence Group" consisting of industry personnel, officials, and experts to understand which industries or professions are overly dependent on foreign labor or inadequately invest in knowledge, skills, and education training for domestic potential manpower, and take cross-departmental, cross-sector measures to address these issues.

Under the new policies, if it is determined that enterprises have long-term unreasonable dependence on foreign labor, they may face the revocation of their licenses to bring in and hire foreign nationals by the government.

In addition, the UK government plans to relax the deportation or repatriation regulations for foreign nationals with criminal records. In the future, it will not only be those sentenced to more than one year in prison but also any foreign nationals with criminal records in the UK who will be easier to deport.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7503771458586313257/

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