This is the second Migrateful guest blog from Olusegun Akinfenwa who writes for Immigration Advice Service, a UK-based law firm offering global immigration services and legal representation for refugees and asylum seekers. You can find Olusegun on Twitter too: @akinfenwa_segun
Brexit has signalled a new trend in the UK’s approach to immigration, and the recent change of administration has done little to alter this roadmap. This increasing drive to stop immigration into the UK just reached new heights with the most recent proposal, presented by Home Secretary Suella Braverman, which is set to affect current visa-holding students and workers, as well as Family Visa candidates.
UK Dependent Visa. New Rules
2023 could be a very bleak year for visa holders and aspirants in the UK. While there’s no mention of halting any of the current visa programmes made available by the UK Home Office, certain amendments were put forth that could mean more international workers and students are estranged from their loved ones.
These new proposals involve tweaking the salary requirements, demanding UK Student Visa and Skilled Worker visa applicants to show higher payslips or revenue per dependant (primarily partners and children) in order to bring them into the country.
In its current state, the UK Student Visa programme gives candidates the possibility to add their dependants on their application, provided they have a minimum of £680 available monthly maintenance funds per dependent. This amount may increase if Braverman’s blueprint gets approved, causing these students to face an even more financial hurdle.
International Workers and Partners, also on the Radar
Braverman was hardly content with limiting herself to the foreign student population. She’s also bent on raising the salary thresholds for workers and family visa requesters.
At the time of writingwriting, to apply for a Spouse Visa, foreign partners/spouses would need to prove that, among other things:
- Their partner is British orIrish
- They’ve been civil partners or married and have been living together with their UK-based sponsor for at least 2 years
- The relationship is “genuine”
- They have sufficient knowledge of English
- They earn a minimum joint income of £18,600 (if they wish to settle within five years)
Spouse Visas are, as they stand, painstakingly hard to get, especially since part of the review process hinges upon subjective criteria (such as determining what constitutes a “genuine relationship”)
Increasing the required minimum income will only put more strain on an already cumbersome process, a predicament that would leave families with fewer chances of reuniting. This won’t only harm the interests of foreign UK settlers, but of UK citizens as well.
For their part, Worker Visa schemes have varying salary thresholds and requirements, depending on the nature of the job. UK businesses up till now, had ample access to the foreign workers market for a wide array of shortage occupations.
It’s still early to tell what repercussions the new proposal would have on the ability of businesses to fill positions in short supply in the UK labour market, but the prospects don’t sound promising. Needless to say, it could end up backfiring on the same British jobs that policymakers claim to protect.
What the Numbers Say
The UK Government has not been so discreet regarding its hostile policies towards immigration. Nevertheless, drafters of the new blueprint justify it on the basis of recent statistics showing new all-time highs in net migration (the bulk of which is made up of foreign students).
Despite the UK Home Office’s rigorous visa screening process, the country has admittedly experienced a significant surge in net migration during the past 4 years, with 2022 numbers reaching an astronomical figure of over 504,000, which is the steepest ever registered. Of these, approximately 476,000 have entered with a student visa, representing a little below 95 per cent of the total.
On top of that, 81,089 were dependents sponsored by student visa holders, a five-fold increase over the 2019 data.
As a response, Rishi Sunak, current UK PM, has allegedly made it his duty to put a cap on immigration. Under the slogan “enough is enough,” he already announced measures to reinforce security across the Channel and place more robust hedges against Albanian boat riders and other strains of undocumented migrants.
However, apparently, his efforts have been focused not only on thwarting unlawful immigration but on restricting legal entry as well.
While he has insisted on his commitment to clear the backlog of close to 100,000 asylum seekers by the end of the year, it was also reported that he planned to raise the bar for admitting foreign students and their dependants, with applicants for “low-quality” degree courses getting the shortest end of the stick.
Hence, the new blueprint introduced by the Home Secretary would not come as a surprise, though it still managed to generate a lot of heat.
What the Numbers Say
The UK Government has not been so discreet regarding its hostile policies towards immigration. Nevertheless, drafters of the new blueprint justify it on the basis of recent statistics showing new all-time highs in net migration (the bulk of which is made up of foreign students).
Despite the UK Home Office’s rigorous visa screening process, the country has admittedly experienced a significant surge in net migration during the past 4 years, with 2022 numbers reaching an astronomical figure of over 504,000, which is the steepest ever registered. Of these, approximately 476,000 have entered with a student visa, representing a little below 95 per cent of the total.
On top of that, 81,089 were dependents sponsored by student visa holders, a five-fold increase over the 2019 data.
As a response, Rishi Sunak, current UK PM, has allegedly made it his duty to put a cap on immigration. Under the slogan “enough is enough,” he already announced measures to reinforce security across the Channel and place more robust hedges against Albanian boat riders and other strains of undocumented migrants.
However, apparently, his efforts have been focused not only on thwarting unlawful immigration but on restricting legal entry as well.
While he has insisted on his commitment to clear the backlog of close to 100,000 asylum seekers by the end of the year, it was also reported that he planned to raise the bar for admitting foreign students and their dependants, with applicants for “low-quality” degree courses getting the shortest end of the stick.
Hence, the new blueprint introduced by the Home Secretary would not come as a surprise, though it still managed to generate a lot of heat.
Who is Suella Braverman?
Sue-Ellen “Suella” Braverman was the “mastermind” behind the blueprint, though, of course, this document merely reflects the values of Sunak’s administration.
The barrister and former attorney general had fashioned herself as the “only authentic Brexiteer” in the Conservative Party. She was also heavily criticised recently for being patently out of touch with how the UK’s asylum system works.
She held the position of Home Secretary under the short-lived Liz Truss administration, which initially shared her enthusiasm about the need to put some roadblocks on immigration, only to change course midway. This last turn of events, according to a Guardian report, prompted Braverman to announce her resignation, particularly after Ms Truss and her then chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, wanted her to announce a scheme to make legal immigration more accessible.
Regardless, she would return to her position roughly one week later – as soon as Sunak became Britain’s new PM – resuming her aggressive campaign against migrants.
The Education Community Speaks Out
The most recent announcement drew contempt mostly from the education community. One group that had no qualms about questioning the blueprint was Universities UK (UUK).
UKK’s chief executive, Vivienne Stern, was one of the most outspoken against Suella’s initiative, using blunt words like “nonsensical” to describe it. She argued that the UK Government seemed resolute on supposedly stimulating “growth” while simultaneously hurting the country’s popularity among international students.
Stern was not alone in her protestation. Some months back, professor and Migration Advisory Committee’s chairperson Brian Bell expressed his worries that this administration’s proposed approach to student immigration would signal the end of the UK university system as we know it, for most institutions could be forced to assume the costs of teaching British students without any of the relief money that the foreign alumni provide to their coffers. Whatever the case may be, it appears as if these words of warning have largely been ignored.
