Home Secretary announces deep and restrictive immigration changes

The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has announced a raft of proposed changes to UK immigration law, both in the asylum field and general immigration field – or “legal migration” as the latter is sometimes known.

Regarding legal migration, the Home Office said earlier this month “The biggest shake-up of the legal migration system in nearly half a century will be launched today, designed to reward those who contribute and play by the rules.”

It sounds snappy, and when they refer to “nearly half a century” we suppose they are probably referring to the significant changes made to British nationality law under the British Nationality Act 1981, which came into effect in 1983. They proudly announce that these measures will be “the toughest in Europe” – so they think anyway. 

Be this as it may, it looks as though there are going to be very significant changes to the rules for settlement. At the moment, many visa routes provide a five-year route to settlement, although some are quicker and some are slower. 

This is going to change, although the proposed changes are complicated. Those who already hold settlement will be not affected but those who have not yet achieved settlement might be. A ten-year route or even a 15-year route to settlement will become the norm, and those who thought that they were on a five-year route to settlement may suddenly discover that they are on a longer route, “with reductions for those making a strong contribution to British life” – whatever that might mean exactly. Other migrants – “lower paid workers” – may face a 15-year route. 

Other interesting proposals include “Migrants reliant on benefits face a 20 year wait for settlement” and “migrants only become eligible for benefits and social housing if they first become British citizens” and “Illegal migrants and visa overstayers would have to wait up to 30 years to settle”. Only what you might call the very best sort of migrant– eg NHS professionals, entrepreneurs, high earners – will have three-year or five-year routes to settlement. 

Ms Mahmood in justification says this “Migration will always be a vital part of Britain’s story. But the scale of arrivals in recent years has been unprecedented.” Well, we note that her parents were Pakistani migrants, so she is part of the story herself. 

Anyway, so much for legal migration; these are only proposals, but Ms Mahmood and the Home Office sound very determined. The legal reality is that the Home Secretary can in many cases change UK immigration laws very easily without much involvement from Parliament. 

The question is: exactly what does she think this is all likely to achieve? To encourage migrants to just give up and go home or to stop new ones coming, or both? Another question is would these proposals attract legal challenge? Well, certainly yes; immigration lawyers are up in arms. And yet another question: would any legal challenge be effective? Well, we shall see. 

Regarding asylum-seekers there is a similarly strong narrative. It is no secret for anyone who reads the papers that this government has already introduced various measures to limit the possibilities for asylum claims and the eventual right to British citizenship, but now things are going to become more so. 

At present, successful asylum claimants are granted five years’ leave; this will change to 30 months’ leave which is potentially renewable. The Home Office makes a big point that leave will only be renewed if the migrant still needs protection – but this principle is already built into Home Office policies in any case, a point that seems to have escaped them. 

And the current entitlement to settlement after five years will increase rather hugely to 20 years in some cases, but it seems that if successful claimants work or study they may have a shorter route to settlement. 

And, as we already know, the possibilities for family reunion are going to be strongly amended and reduced. Entitlement to state benefits will also be reduced, as will be the provision of accommodation in the asylum area.

And the Home Office intends to revamp the appeals scheme, to speed up and simplify processes, and reduce what is seen as abuse of the system. 

This article above is a brief summary of a rather long document published by the Home Office:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-and-returns-policy-statement/restoring-order-and-control-a-statement-on-the-governments-asylum-and-returns-policy

Please feel free to have a read – there is a lot here to absorb. 

In any event, we at GSN Immigration are offering consultations on all these issues. 

Oliver Westmoreland

Senior Immigration Lawyer