Julia Lopez MP has welcomed a 25% fall in migration during the first four months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023 thanks to Government action.

In a welcome move, actions taken by the Government to tighten up various visa restrictions have seen a noticeable impact in bringing down the number of people seeking to enter the UK.

Student visas have seen several changes to tighten up restrictions, particularly in relation to being able to bring family members over to the UK, as well as preventing people from changing their visa status before finishing their course and using the route as a backdoor into the UK.

Changes to restrictions on care workers bringing their families to the UK have also seen a fall in visa applications during April 2024 compared to the same month in 2023. The last few years have seen a disproportionate and unsustainable rise in care worker dependent visa applications which the Government has now cracked down on.

The measures form part of the work to ensure that legal migration numbers come down to sustainable levels. Included in the wider package of measures are:

• Increasing the salary threshold for Skilled Worker visas by 48% to £38,700.
• Restricting care workers from bringing dependants with them and requiring care providers acting as sponsors in England to register with the industry regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), to crack down on worker exploitation and abuse within the sector.
• Abolishing the shortage occupation list and replacing it with a new immigration salary list, with employers no longer able to pay migrants less than UK workers in shortage occupations.
• Raising the minimum income requirement for the family visa to reach the level of the Skilled Worker visa, currently £38,700 by early 2025.

Welcoming the new statistics, Julia Lopez MP said:

“Immigration is one of the issues which residents contact me about most frequently. This week’s announcement that immigration numbers are down by 25% thanks to action taken by the Government is very welcome.

“It is vitally important that we bring immigration numbers down to sustainable levels, and that we have an immigration and asylum system which is fair and works in our best interests. Many people want to come and live here in the UK and so we should have an immigration system that welcomes the very brightest and best to our country.”

Home Secretary James Cleverly said:

“The plan to deliver the largest ever cut to legal migration in our country’s history is working. This monthly data is the most up to date picture of visa levels, showing that on current trajectories legal migration continues to fall across key routes.

“The British people deserve an immigration system that puts their interests first. Our approach is about control and fairness; to the highly skilled coming here who deserve a decent wage, to taxpayers who shouldn’t be relied on to support them, and to British workers who shouldn’t be undercut. We will continue to keep these measures under close review and if needed, we will not hesitate to go further.”

Delivery of these measures is part of the Government’s plan to crack down on rising migration, both legal and illegal, and reform the immigration system. The plan is working, with small boats crossings down by around a third last year, and work continues to tackle this global challenge including by working with international partners and clamping down on the criminal gangs with stepped up enforcement.

Now that the Safety of Rwanda Act has passed and the treaty with Rwanda has been ratified, the Government is entering the final phase of operationalising this landmark policy, with the first flight set to take off to Rwanda in early July.

A letter from the Minister of State for Legal Migration and the Border, Tom Pursglove MP, setting out further impacts of the Government's efforts in this area can be accessed below.