20 April 2025 - UK Immigration Reform 2025
UK Immigration Reform 2025: Key Changes and Business Impacts
Devan Khagram, Anna Robinson, Matt Bowtell and Elliott Marsh (Watson Farley & Williams, 19/05/2025)
On 12 May 2025, the UK government published its white paper titled ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration System’. The 82-page document was promised following the Labour Party’s election win in summer 2024 and outlines a strategic overhaul of the UK’s immigration framework. Spearheaded by the Home Secretary, the white paper aims to “reduce net migration, bring control and fairness to the system, and promote economic growth”, in its own words.
Care homes closure warning after PM's visa pledge
Jacob Morris (BBC News, 19/05/2025)
Care homes could be forced to close over proposed immigration law changes, according to bosses in the sector. A new UK government white paper proposes care workers on sponsored visas would need to remain in the UK for 10 years before gaining the right to live and work here indefinitely - double the current requirement of five years. One care worker on a care sponsorship visa described the announcement as "shocking", and said it was "dashing" her hopes of building a better life.
Migrants already in UK face longer wait for permanent settlement
Henry Zeffman and Becky Morton (BBC News, 14/05/2025)
New rules making migrants wait longer to qualify for permanent settlement in the UK will apply to people already in the country, under government plans. On Monday the government announced immigrants would now typically have to live in the UK for 10 years before applying for the right to stay here indefinitely - double the current five-year period. It was previously unclear whether this would apply to the approximately 1.5 million foreign workers who have moved to the UK since 2020.
PM remarks at Immigration White Paper press conference
Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street and The Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer KCB KC MP (GOV.UK, 12/05/2025)
Today, we publish a White Paper on immigration, a strategy that is absolutely central to my Plan for Change. This strategy will finally take back control of our borders and close the book on a squalid chapter for our politics, our economy, and our country. “Take back control.” Everyone knows that slogan and what it meant for immigration, or at least that’s what people thought. Because what followed from the previous Government, starting with the people who used that slogan, was the complete opposite. Between 2019 and 2023, even as they were going around our country telling people, with a straight face, they would get immigration down, net migration quadrupled.
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