The government will announce a package of measures today aimed at cracking down on record levels of legal migration, Sky News understands.
It is thought Home Secretary James Cleverly will announce the scaling back of health and social care visas and an overhaul of the shortage occupation list in a Commons statement on Monday.
There will also be a change in the minimum salary threshold for skilled worker visas.
It is believed it will be increased from £26,200 to a figure over the £35,000 which Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick had been pushing for.
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Rishi Sunak faced a backlash from senior members of his own party after new figures revealed migration is at an all-time high – despite a Conservative 2019 manifesto pledge to bring numbers down.
Revised estimates from the ONS put net migration to the UK in the year to December 2022 at a record-breaking 745,000.
The prime minister has since said the numbers are “too high” and hinted he would take action to address this – but he has stopped short of saying what those measures could look like.
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It is understood he came under pressure in particular from Mr Jenrick, who proposed a five-point plan involving a cap on the number of health and social visas and a rise in the minimum salary threshold.
Home Office figures showed 143,990 health and care worker visas were granted in the year ending September 2023, more than double the 61,274 for the year to September 2022.
But any measures to limit these visas would likely prove controversial among health leaders, given the workforce crisis and the growing NHS waiting list.
As well as scaling back these visas, the government could also limit the number of dependants foreign health and social workers could bring to the UK.
According to The Telegraph, which first reported on today’s announcement, there will also be an overhaul of the shortage occupation list – a programme that allows foreign workers to be paid 20% below the going rate in roles that suffer from a shortage of skilled workers.
Sources told the newspaper the list would be “widely scrubbed” with a high bar set for any exceptions.
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