Government accepts stricter non-EU migrant rules
Changes to points-based system will help British workers get jobs, says Home Office
Lucy Phillips
The government has accepted recommendations from its migration advisers to help safeguard jobs for British workers in an increasingly tough labour market.
The Home Office said it would implement all 16 recommendations, made last month by the Migration Advisory Committee (Mac), to tighten up immigration rules for skilled non-EU migrants.
The changes to the points-based system will mean that, from next year, all job vacancies must be advertised in Britain for at least a month, as opposed to two weeks currently, before employers can look to recruit from outside the EU.
The minimum salary for a skilled worker to be eligible to work in the UK will increase from £17,000 to £20,000 while the qualifying period for overseas workers to move to UK bases via intra-company transfers will increase from six months to a year.
The points-based system was introduced last year as a way of adjusting non-EU immigration to take into account changing economic and skills needs.
Home secretary Alan Johnson said: “These changes will ensure that businesses can recruit the skilled foreign workers that the economy needs, but not at the expense of British workers, nor as a cheaper alternative to investing in the skills of the existing workforce.”
But some employers did not welcome the changes, which they said would make it far more difficult to recruit much needed skilled workers from overseas.