Wajahat Akli Khan
On 12 May 2025 the government published a white paper policy document called Restoring control over the immigration system. The document proposed some changes to make it harder to move to and settle in the UK, with a view to reducing immigration. A white paper does not, by itself, alter the law or the immigration rules. It puts forward changes the government intends to make in future. This means that not all the details about these proposals, including when they will come into force, are available yet. The document covers both high-level principles and specific policy changes. Eight proposals are detailed enough to be quantified.
The Nine proposals are:
1. Net migration will fall
For a departmental policy document, there is quite a lot of politics, including forewords from Starmer and Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, both of whom make the argument for reducing numbers – though without setting out any specifics for this reduction.
Starmer castigated what he called “a one-nation experiment in open borders” under the Conservatives, with net migration peaking above 900,000 a year in 2023. He and Cooper both said this had placed pressure on public services without helping economic growth.
2. Tightening up the skilled visa route
One of the key changes is to tighten up the rules on which qualifications people need to get a skilled work visa. Currently, these need to be at least at the level of what is known as regulated qualifications framework (RQF) 3, roughly equivalent to A-levels. This will be changed to RQF6, which is degree level.
Skilled worker visas will still be issued for jobs assessed at RQF3-5 but only on a time-limited basis and if the government’s migration advisory committee deems that there is a shortage of domestic staff. Industries that do this must demonstrate that they are taking steps to try to plug the recruitment gap.
3. Social care visas
These would already be affected by the changes to skilled visas, but more specifically the white paper promises to end all overseas recruitment for social care work – although there will be a “transition period” until 2028 where visas can be extended and overseas nationals already in the country can switch to a social care job. While this is being promised alongside separate pledges to overhaul social care and make it a more attractive option for UK workers, some groups in the sector are worried this could cause further staff shortages, which could affect the care available to people.
4. Student visas
One of the other big drivers in rising net numbers in recent years has been students, and while this area is economically hugely important – the white paper cites an estimated £20bn annual contribution to the economy – ministers are planning significant changes. Given what the paper cites as worries that too many students are arriving to study at lower-ranked institutions, and often staying in the UK beyond their course, what is known as the basic compliance assessment for sponsoring institutions is being tightened up, with tougher targets for the percentage of visas granted and the proportion of students who enrol and then complete their course.
There is a parallel pledge to review another route for overseas students: those who arrive to take a shorter-duration language course.
5. Language requirements
These will be made generally more rigorous and there will be new requirements for people to show progression in their English proficiency over time if they apply for visa extensions or settlement. As part of this, all adult dependants who come with arriving workers or students will need to show at least basic English skills, and to progress.
6. Longer wait for settlement
Under the changed rules, people will need to have been in the UK for at least 10 years, rather than the current five, before they can seek settlement, also known as indefinite leave, to remain. This has been criticised by some as making it harder for arrivals to fully integrate into UK life.
7. Offences and deportation
Several measures in the paper relate to making it easier to remove arrivals who have committed crimes, particularly if they are on short-term visas. Currently, only those who are jailed for a year or more are considered for deportation. This will now be an option for all offences, particularly sexual offences. Part of this will involve seeking to “clarify” how article 8 of the European convention on human rights, which allows people to appeal because of their right to a family life, is applied to immigration cases in the UK.
8. Higher fees
One specific in the document is a 32% increase in the so-called immigration skills charge, paid by employers (barring certain professions such as research scientists) when they take on someone from overseas via a skilled visa or similar route. The paper says this has not been increased since 2017, so the rise is in line with inflation.
9. E-identity cards
To better monitor arrivals and have improved measuring of numbers, a new electronic identity system for overseas nationals will replace the current system of biometric residence permit cards. This would be an extension of the eVisa system implemented for foreign visa holders in the past few months.
Most of these changes can be made by amending the immigration rules. They do not require an Act of Parliament or statutory instrument, except for the levy on student fees.
The white paper is a wide-ranging document and covers other important issues. These include a new Labour Market Evidence Group, reforms to family visas, Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and deportation of foreign national offenders.
When will the changes be coming in?
There is no fixed date for any of the white paper’s proposals to come into force. An accompanying press release says they will come in “over the course of this Parliament” (so between now and 2029) but some will be introduced “in the coming weeks”.
Much of the media attention and questions from constituents have focused on the proposal to extend the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. The white paper says there will be a consultation on this “later this year”, meaning that there will not be changes straight away.
Will migrants have to wait ten years for indefinite leave to remain?
The standard qualifying period for permanent residence will be increased under the government’s proposals. The default would be settlement after ten years, rather than five years at present, but some people will be able to qualify earlier. Under this “earned settlement” proposal, there would be a shorter pathway than ten years for people who have made “Points-Based contributions to the UK economy and society”.
The white paper does not say how these points would be earned or how much of a reduction on the ten-year qualifying period would be available. These issues are likely to be covered in the promised consultation.
Which visa categories will be affected by the longer qualifying period?
There are explicit exemptions for people married to British citizens, who will continue to qualify for settlement after five years, and for victims of domestic abuse people with post-Brexit residence rights under the EU Settlement Scheme have the right to permanent residence after five years under Article 15 of the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement.
The government has not confirmed whether other immigration routes with a five-year pathway to permanent residence will be exempt. Asked whether people with a Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa are going to be affected, the minister for migration and citizenship replied “we will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and will provide details of how the scheme will work after that.
longer for indefinite leave to remain?
The government has not confirmed whether people already in the immigration routes affected will have to wait longer for settlement, as opposed to the change only applying to those arriving after the implementation date.
The white paper’s technical annex suggests that the Home Office does envisage the change affecting those already here: “a number of those currently in the UK are likely to leave due it taking longer to gain settled status.
Will MPs be voting on the white paper changes? This is unlikely, in most cases revision of visa regulations is done through statements of changes to the Immigration Rules. A statement of changes takes effect automatically unless either the House of Commons or House of Lords actively votes against it within 40 days. Usually there is no vote and the government is not obliged to make time for one in the Commons even if MPs table motions against the changes. There was no vote on the Conservative government’s significant changes to visa rules in 2024, although there were several non-binding debates. Certain elements of the white paper proposals, such as the levy on international student fees and changes to citizenship rules, do require primary legislation (an act of Parliament) and therefore the endorsement of MPs.
