| The government is taking action to reduce legal migration. The main Opposition parties do not want to cu back substantially on migration. |
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- Cutting the number of visa applications across skilled worker, health and care and sponsored study by 25 per cent. Thanks to the changes to visa rules, visa applications across skilled worker, health and care and sponsored study were down by 25 per cent in January to April 2024 compared to last year (Home Office, Official Statistics, 22 May 2024, link).
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- Bringing down the number of student dependents applying for visas by 80 per cent, ensuring net migration comes down to sustainable levels. The latest data shows just 8,300 student dependents applied for visas in January to April 2024, a reduction of 80 per cent, down from 38,900 in the same period in 2023 (Home Office, Official Statistics, 22 May 2024, link).
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- Driving down the number of health and care visa applications by 76 per cent this year, as we stick to our plan to deliver sustainable staffing levels in our NHS without relying on foreign workers. In January to April 2024, 12,400 people applied for a health and care skilled worker visa, down by 76 per cent compared to the same period last year when applications were at 119,600 (Home Office, Official Statistics, 22 May 2024, link).
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- Ensuring 300,000 people who came to the UK last year will not be able to come under our new visa rules, securing a more sustainable level of immigration for the long term. In December 2023 the government announced a plan to cut migration levels and curb abuse of the immigration system. Together, this will mean 300,000 people who came to the UK last year would now not be able to come (HO, Fact Sheet, 1 February 2024, link; Hansard, 25 May 2023, HCWS 800, link; Home Office, News Story, 2 January 2023, link).
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- Changing the rules for international students and dependents as of 2024, helping to reduce net migration by an estimated 140,000. Students can bring economic contribution to the UK but should not be at the expense of our commitment to the public to lower overall migration and ensure that migration to the UK is highly skilled, providing the most benefit and helping grow the economy (Hansard, 25 May 2023, HCWS 800, link; Home Office, News Story, 2 January 2023, link).
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