On Monday, 12th May 2025, the British Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, announced a new immigration whitepaper. Titled “Restoring Control Over the Immigration System”, it set out a number of changes to the existing system, with further changes likely based on ongoing reviews and research.
Immigration has become an increasingly important political battleground over the past 10 years, with rising immigration levels causing the Reform Party to gain in the polls. This latest White Paper is a response to the threat that the Reform Party poses to the incumbent Labour Party. Faced with net immigration numbers of 906,000 and 728,000 across 2023 and 2024, the government has decided that significant action is required.
The white paper details several changes, most of which are focused on reducing low-skilled immigration.
The main proposed changes are:
We will be releasing a series of articles looking at each of these changes in much greater depth.
While the white paper sets forth the strategic direction and proposed reforms, it does not detail specific implementation dates for these changes.
It’s also unclear whether these changes will impact migrants within the UK that are already on visas, or whether it will be limited to new applications after a specific date. What we do know is that social care visas to new applications from abroad will be closed. however, a transition period until 2028, will permit visa extensions and in-country switching for those already in the country with working rights, but this will be kept under review.
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