A new legislation introduced in Parliament on October 14th in order to create a more controlled immigration system, will require migrants who are wanting to live and work in the UK to face harder English language standards.
The new law enforces that people that are coming to the UK through legal circumstances, must achieve English proficiency equivalent to A-Level standards in terms of speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
Visa applications will all require verified results from Home Office-approved providers in which tests can be taken.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said:
” Britain has always been welcoming to those who come here to contribute. But it is unacceptable for people to arrive unable to speak our language or take part in our national life. If you choose to make the UK your home, you must learn the language and play your part in our society.”
These measures taken place in parliament, encourages tighter control over who comes into the country whilst also ensuring that top global talents who are willing to contribute to the nation and better themselves in terms of lifestyle and education are still able to enter the country. The time for international students looking for a job after they complete their graduate-level studies, will fall to 18 months rather than the current 2 years. This change will start from 1 January 2027.
The immigration skills charge (ISC), which employers pay skilled foreign workers and training for the domestic workforce, is going to be raised by 32%. This increase is the first boost since 2017 and will help reduce the reliance on overseas recruitment as a result of investing into the domestic workforce.
To promote the entry of high skilled foreign individuals into the country, the government will enhance certain routes to ensure this is the case. These include:
- High Potential Individual (HPI) route will include graduates from the top 100 global universities and the maximum number of annual applicants will be capped at 8000.
- Entrepreneurial students can switch from student visas to the Innovator Founder route, which will allow the top open new businesses in the UK.
These changes ultimately support the UK’s mission to attract high-skilled migrants mainly within specialist routes such as research, design, film, and television by 2026.