Migrants expected to face tougher English standards and longer residency waits

Migrants may have to learn a higher standard of English to work in the UK and wait for longer before they can settle permanently, reports have suggested.

An immigration White Paper due to be published next week is expected to set out the reforms, as Sir Keir Starmer gets tougher on migration in the wake of Labour’s local election losses to Reform UK.

Among the strict new measures under consideration is raising English language proficiency required by migrants applying for a UK work visa, according to The Times.

They would in future be required to have the equivalent of a foreign language A-level standard of English, rather than the GCSE standard currently required, the newspaper said.

Wait

Elsewhere, the Financial Times (FT) reported that migrants will be required to wait as long as 10 years before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

Most migrants who come to Britain on time-limited work visas can currently make an application for indefinite leave to remain after five years.

This paves the way for them to apply for benefits and the path towards UK citizenship.

The wait could be extended to 10 years if migrants have spent too much time outside the UK since arriving or if there are questions about their financial status, the FT said.

Reform

Similar plans to extend the waiting period for indefinite leave to remain were set out by the Conservatives on Tuesday.

Both the Tories’ “Deportation Bill” and Labour’s plans to toughen its migration response come as both parties aim to win back voters from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

The party, which has positioned itself as tough on migration, won hundreds of local council seats and wrested control of the Runcorn and Helsby parliamentary constituency from Labour on May 1.