Home Office unveils immigration cap details
By Ian Dunt
The Home Office has finally unveiled details of how it plans to put a yearly cap on immigration into Britain, amid claims it would be unworkable.
Employers brining people into Britain to work would have to apply for a certificate of sponsorship for each post, rather than the allocation of certificates they currently request from the UK Border Agency.
20,700 certificates will be allocated annually, divided into 12 monthly allocations. Due to high demand in the first month, 4,200 are being made available in April when the system goes live, with 1,500 per month being made available afterward.
“I am not seeking zero or negative net migration,” immigration minister Damian Green said.
“Our aim is to reduce the level of migration down to the levels of the 1990s – tens of thousands each year, not hundreds of thousands.”
He added: “We have worked closely with businesses while designing this system, and made it clear employers should look first to people who are out of work and who are already in this country.”
Employers filling a vacancy which attracts a salary of £150,000 or above will not be limited in the number of certificates they receive.
If the monthly allowance is oversubscribed applicants will be ranked according to a points system which favours jobs on the shortage occupation list, scientific researchers and those with a higher salary.
Workers from outside the EU who want to come to Britain will need to have a graduate level job, speak an intermediate level of English and meet specific salary and employment requirements.
