Migrant numbers drop further after curbs on visas

As the number of migrant workers entering Britain has continued to decline due to curbs on visas, the home secretary has requested a review of the use of international recruitment in the technology and engineering sectors.

The number of migrants and family members applying to enter Britain on a skilled worker, health and care or study visa fell by more than a third in July compared to the same time last year.

The overall number of people applying to come to the UK as skilled workers, healthcare workers or to study fell from 143,000 in July of last year to 91,300 in July of this year – a drop of 36%.

There was an 82% decline in the number of applications for health and care visas between April and July, and the number of people applying to study in the UK fell by 15%, according to the Home Office.

There were 22,200 applications for dependents on the Health and Care route between April and July 2024 – a 71% decrease compared to the same four months in 2023.

Thanks to changes to immigration policy introduced by the previous government, from 1 January this year foreign students studying in the UK can no longer bring dependents with them on their UK student visa, aside from those on certain postgraduate research programmes.

The latest decline in applications follows a similar trend shown in May’s statistical release, which showed an 80% drop in the number of dependents accompanying students.

It likely means that when official annual migration figures are released later this year, there will be a significant drop in immigration. In 2022, net annual migration hit a record high of 745,000 and fell to 685,000 in 2023.

Separately, home secretary Yvette Cooper has written to the Migration Advisory Committee, which advises the government on immigration policy, suggesting that visa requirements for skilled workers in IT, telecoms and engineering be tightened.

She has asked the MAC to “look at key occupations to understand the reasons behind their reliance on international recruitment”, with a view to potentially raising the salary threshold for migrant workers in this sector coming into the UK.

“These must be balanced against the risks of undercutting the wages of British workers and of over-complicating the system,” she said.

Cooper has asked MAC to report on its findings in nine months’ time. This is likely the first approach of many as the newly formed Skills England begins to identify skills gaps across the labour market, and the role of migrant labour in addressing skills shortages.

Karoli Hindricks, CEO of employee relocation platform Jobbatical, said: “The speed of innovations across tech and engineering right now are rapid, largely down to huge continued developments in AI.

“The UK has real potential to be a leading powerhouse for AI, but it doesn’t currently have enough homegrown talent to meet the demand – so relying on highly skilled international talent is a necessity. The value that skilled international workers bring to companies and culture also shouldn’t be underestimated.

“Making the UK a hostile environment for global talent would risk ceding our competitive edge to countries that are rolling out the red carpet for the world’s top professionals in these industries.”

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