Better English standards and decade in UK to be demanded before citizenship

Independent

11-05-2025

Migrants will be told they need to spend up to a decade in the UK before they can apply for citizenship and English language requirements will be increased as part of the Government's immigration crackdown.
Sir Keir Starmer will promise to 'tighten up' all elements of the system as ministers look to bring down net figures, but are facing pushback against plans to stop foreign recruitment of care workers.
The Prime Minister is expected to say that 'enforcement will be tougher than ever and migration numbers will fall' as a result of the policies in the Immigration White Paper, set to be unveiled on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Home Secretary has been warned that plans to stop overseas recruitment for care worker visas are 'cruel' , and the head of a nursing union is expected to accuse the Government of 'pandering and scapegoating' with the policy.
Yvette Cooper said on Sunday that the overseas recruitment for care worker visas will be stopped, as part of plans to reduce 'lower-skilled' visas by 'up to 50,000' in the next year.
Sir Keir has also hinted at a tightening up of the rules around the right to a family life for foreign offenders looking to evade deportation, telling The Sun newspaper 'if you break British law, you give up your right to be here'.
Under the white paper proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship, but so-called 'high-contributing' individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning that they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
Meanwhile skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
Ministers are looking to bring down net migration figures, which stood at 728,000 in the year to mid-2024.
'Every area of the immigration system, including work, family and study, will be tightened up so we have more control,' the Prime Minister is expected to say on Monday.
'Enforcement will be tougher than ever and migration numbers will fall.'
He will say that the system under the reforms will be 'controlled, selective and fair', and will recognise 'those who genuinely contribute to Britain's growth and society, while restoring common sense and control to our borders'.
Ms Cooper told Sky News On Sunday that 'we will be closing the care worker visa for overseas recruitment'.
Under current rules, to qualify for a care worker visa a person must have a certificate of sponsorship from their employer with information about the role they have been offered in the UK.
The Home Secretary told the BBC the rules around the system will change to 'prevent' it being used 'to recruit from abroad' but 'we will allow them to continue to extend visas and also to recruit from more than 10,000 people who came on a care worker visa, where the sponsorship visa was cancelled'.
The head of a nursing union is expected to criticise the decision in a keynote speech on Monday.
Prof Nicola Ranger, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing will tell its annual congress that the Government's plans are about 'pandering and scapegoating'.
'The UK is so reliant on overseas colleagues, especially in social care.
'The Government has no plan to grow a domestic workforce.
'This is about politics – pandering and scapegoating.
'It should be about people,' she will say.
'We need an immigration system that works for care staff, nurses and the people who rely on them.'
Care England's chief executive Martin Green earlier labelled the Government's plans as 'cruel'.
The plans come less than a fortnight after Reform UK surged to victory in local council elections across England, a result that deputy leader Richard Tice has said was 'because people are raging, furious, about the levels of both legal and illegal immigration'.
The Conservatives have said that the Prime Minister is 'trying to take steal credit for recent substantial reductions in visa numbers that resulted from Conservative reforms in April 2024'.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp added: 'Starmer is the same man who wrote letters protesting against deporting dangerous foreign criminals and has overseen the worst ever start to a year for illegal immigrants crossing the channel.
'The idea that Starmer is tough on immigration is a joke.'