The British Conservative Government announced this Monday a package of measures to reduce immigration which includes lifting from 26,200 to 38,700 pounds (30,530 to 45,100 euros, at today’s exchange rate) annual minimum wage required to grant a visa work for foreigners. The Minister of the Interior, James Cleverly, has detailed the new rules before the House of Commons (lower), where he has indicated that they are designed to “reduce abuses” of the points system introduced in 2021, after Brexit or departure from the Kingdom United Kingdom of the European Union (EU).

This system contemplates the granting of visas to students and qualified labor who meet certain requirements, with special conditions – such as a lower salary – for sectors where there are shortages, such as, currently, healthcare, nuclear scientists or engineers. In addition to the hiring company ensuring the minimum wage imposed, candidates They have to speak English and in some cases pay a surcharge in advance to access the national health service (NHS). Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government is under pressure from its own MPs to cut net immigration less than a year before the next general election, after it stood at 745,000 in 2022.

On the other hand, keep looking for the way to reduce the arrival of migrants through irregular routes –for example, in boats through the English Channel -, after in November the Justice declared illegal his plan to send potential refugees to Rwanda to have their cases processed. Restrictions on workers, students and families. The Government reported this Monday that starting next spring it will prohibit foreign employees in critical sectors such as healthcare or social care workers who charge less than the required minimum wage bring their dependents to the country.

They recognize their “great work” but reduce them

Students, except for some postgraduates, will also be prevented from bringing their relatives and will automatically stay to work in the UK after completing their studies. Only workers who earn at least 38,700 pounds per year will be able to bring their families to the United Kingdom. The Interior will also reduce the number of sectors that, due to the urgent need for labor, are exempt from certain requirements, so that British companies offer better salaries to attract citizens of the country.

“We will stop immigration from undermining the wages of British workers“said Cleverly, who stressed that some exceptions will be maintained in order to “be able to continue bringing workers on whom our health and social care system depends.” The conservative politician assured that the Government “recognizes” that foreign workers “They do a great job in the NHS. and in the social care sector”, but has considered that it is “important that migrants make a sufficient contribution to the finances” of the State.

The minister maintained that this strategy will lead to “the largest reduction ever undertaken in net migration” and assured that, if it had been applied last year, it would have been reduced by about 300,000 people. The Labor spokesperson for the Interior, Yvette Cooper, said, however, that the announced changes “are an admission on the part of the Conservative Government (in power since 2010). from years of failures“. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said in turn that this “inflationary increase in the minimum wage and surcharges will not solve the shortages (in labor) that currently harm companies and growth. “.