The UK Government has published a new Immigration White Paper in May 2025, titled "Restoring Control over the Immigration System" [i]. Prime Minister Keir Starmer described this strategy as "absolutely central" to his Plan for Change [i, 2]. The stated aim of the White Paper is to "finally take back control of our borders and close the book on a squalid chapter for our politics, our economy, and our country" [i, 2].
The White Paper presents a strong case for change, highlighting that under the previous government, net migration quadrupled between 2019 and 2023 [i, 2, 24, 40]. Net migration reached nearly 1 million in 2023 and was 728,000 in the year ending June 2024 [i, 2, 24]. This is significantly above the levels seen throughout most of the 2010s, which averaged between 200,000 to 300,000 per year from 2010 to 2019 [i, 24]. This surge is seen as having placed "too much pressure" on public services and housing [i, 5, 17, 20, 23], distorted the economy by incentivising the import of workers rather than investment in domestic skills [i, 5, 17, 19, 20, 40, 41, 43, 44, 53, 59, 67], and led to a perceived loss of control [i, 2, 5, 17, 20]. The previous system, introduced post-Brexit, is viewed as a "free-market experiment" that lowered the overall skills threshold from degree-level (RQF 6) to A-Level equivalent (RQF 3) and set a new basic salary threshold, leading to a significant increase in lower-skilled migration and dependants [i, 9, 20, 24, 26, 47, 48, 50, 59, 66, 67].
The government believes it needs to "reduce immigration significantly" to restore control and fairness [i, 3, 21, 28, 37, 40, 150]. The new strategy aims to "finally honour what “take back control” meant" by beginning to choose who comes to the UK based on the national interest [i, 5]. The White Paper outlines measures to tighten controls across every area of the immigration system, including work visas, with the intention that this plan will mean migration will fall [i, 5].
Raising the Skill Level and Salary Thresholds
A core change to the Skilled Worker route is lifting the skill level requirement [i, 5, 38, 60, 68, 151]. The previous government lowered the threshold from RQF 6 (degree-level) to RQF 3 (A-level equivalent) in 2020 [i, 9, 47, 50, 59, 66, 67]. The new policy will lift the skill level requirement back to RQF 6 and above [i, 5, 38, 60, 68, 151]. Occupations at RQF 6 and above typically require at least an undergraduate degree [i, 47].
Alongside this, salary thresholds will rise [i, 5, 60, 68, 151]. The Immigration Salary List, which previously offered salary discounts, will be abolished [i, 61]. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) will be asked to undertake a thorough review of salary requirements, including discounts, to ensure that international recruitment is never a cheap alternative to fair pay [i, 61].
Temporary Shortage List
For occupations with a skills requirement of RQF 3-5 (below degree level) where long-term shortages exist, access to the Points-Based immigration system will be permitted on a time-limited basis through a new Temporary Shortage List [i, 15, 38, 62, 72, 73, 152, 153]. Inclusion on this list is contingent on several conditions:
- The MAC must advise that it is justified [i, 15, 62, 72, 152, 153].
- A workforce strategy must be in place for the sector [i, 15, 62, 72, 74, 152, 153].
- Employers seeking to recruit from abroad must commit to increasing recruitment from the domestic workforce [i, 15, 62, 72, 152, 153].
- These occupations will also have new restrictions on bringing dependants [i, 15, 38, 64, 76, 152].
The MAC will assess factors like the underpinning skills and domestic labour strategies, management of exploitation risk, and the ambition of the workforce strategy before making recommendations for the Temporary Shortage List [i, 64, 75, 76].
Changes to Specific Sectors: Social Care
The White Paper explicitly addresses the social care sector, noting that vacancies are often driven by poor pay and conditions, and that the introduction of the Adult Social Care visa route has led to significant concerns over abuse and exploitation [i, 66, 67, 79, 80, 105, 107]. In line with the wider reforms, the government will end overseas recruitment for social care visas for new applications from abroad [i, 15, 38, 67, 81, 151]. Existing visa holders will be permitted visa extensions and in-country switching for a transition period until 2028, but this is subject to review [i, 151].
Investing in Domestic Skills
A key theme is linking access to visas directly to investment in homegrown skills and implementing workforce strategies to reduce reliance on international recruitment [i, 17, 18, 44, 46, 58, 59, 63, 64, 151, 153]. To support this, the Immigration Skills Charge will be increased by 32% in line with inflation [i, 16, 38, 69, 84, 85, 151]. Funding from this charge will be used to support skills training for the domestic workforce in priority sectors [i, 69, 86].
A new Labour Market Evidence Group (LME Group) will be established to gather data and advise on labour market issues and the role of migration [i, 15, 34, 44, 46, 54, 55, 56, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 152]. This group will comprise bodies such as the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council, DWP, Skills England (and devolved equivalents), and the MAC [i, 55, 56, 61]. They will focus on sectors with high reliance on migration or anticipated future reliance and make recommendations for workforce strategies [i, 56, 62].
Implications for Global Talent
For global talent, the changes mean a higher skills bar for the standard Skilled Worker route (RQF 6 and above) [i, 5, 38, 60, 68, 151] and increased English language requirements (from B1 to B2 for main applicants, new A1 requirement for adult dependants) [i, 5, 38, 139, 140, 159]. The path to settlement is also being reformed, with the standard qualifying period increasing to ten years via an expansion of the Points-Based System [i, 5, 39, 142, 143, 160]. An 'Earned Settlement' model will allow individuals to potentially reduce this period based on points earned through contributions [i, 39, 143, 144, 160]. Reforms to citizenship will align with these changes [i, 39, 145, 146, 160].
However, the government intends to make it easier for highly skilled individuals to come via targeted routes like Global Talent and Innovator Founder visas [i, 16, 70, 88, 89, 154]. Reforms are also being explored to allow a limited pool of UNHCR recognised refugees and displaced people overseas with relevant skills to apply through sponsored worker routes [i, 16, 67, 68, 82, 83, 154]. Streamlining processes and rolling out eVisas are also aimed at improving the experience for legitimate travellers [i, 73, 90, 115, 118, 119].
Implications for UK Businesses
UK businesses, particularly those in sectors that have relied heavily on lower-skilled overseas recruitment (e.g., social care, accommodation and food services, wholesale and retail [i, 50]), will face significant changes. The end of overseas recruitment for social care visas [i, 15, 38, 67, 81, 151] and the raising of the general skills threshold to RQF 6 [i, 5, 38, 60, 68, 151] means a reduction in access to lower-skilled workers from abroad.
Employers wishing to recruit from abroad will be expected to boost domestic talent and skills [i, 46, 153]. Requirements for sector-specific workforce strategies will be introduced, detailing steps on skills, training, and engagement of the domestic labour force [i, 44, 46, 57, 58, 63, 64, 72, 74, 152, 153]. The increased Immigration Skills Charge will also add to the cost of sponsoring skilled workers [i, 16, 38, 69, 85, 151]. The government will explore options to incentivise and invest in domestic training and potentially restrict employers who are not committed to increasing skills from sponsoring visas [i, 46, 153].
Enhanced Enforcement
The White Paper also emphasizes enhanced enforcement against those who break the rules, including illegal working [i, 5, 21, 109, 183, 189, 229]. The rollout of eVisas and digital identity is intended to provide better data, track compliance, identify overstayers, and support enforcement efforts [i, 36, 110, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 188, 189, 229]. Measures against unscrupulous employers exploiting workers are also planned [i, 107, 128, 227, 228].
Conclusion
This new strategy aims to deliver a migration system that is "controlled, selective, and fair" [i, 22]. It seeks a "clean break with the past that links access to visas directly to investment in homegrown skills" [i, 19, 22, 44, 46, 53, 58, 59, 63, 64, 151, 153]. While acknowledging the contribution migrants make [i, 4, 18, 22, 23, 75, 92, 109, 130, 131], the White Paper signals a determination to wean the economy off reliance on cheap labour [i, 19, 40, 41, 45, 151] and ensure the immigration system works for the UK's national interest [i, 5, 21].
