Immigration policy of the United Kingdom

Immigration policies of the United Kingdom are the areas of modern British policy concerned with the immigration system of the United Kingdom—primarily, who has the right to visit or stay in the UK. British immigration policy is under the purview of UK Visas and Immigration.[1]

With its exit from the European Union, the UK implemented a broad reform to its immigration system, putting an end to free movement and introducing a points-based system, that took effect on 1 January 2021.[2]

In 2019, Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to reduce net migration to the UK (the number of people immigrating minus the number emigrating) below 250,000 per year.[3]

Net migration to the UK reached a record high of 764,000 in 2022,[4] with immigration at 1.26 million and emigration at 493,000.[5] Of the 1,218,000 migrants in 2023, only 10% were EU nationals. Around 250,000 people came from India, 141,000 from Nigeria, 90,000 from China and 83,000 from Pakistan.[4] More EU nationals left the UK than arrived.[6]

  1. ^ "Home page | UK Visas and Immigration Archived 2014-04-25 at the Wayback Machine." Gov.uk. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  2. ^ "The UK's points-based immigration system: policy statement Archived 2020-12-11 at the Wayback Machine," Policy paper. Gov.uk. Government of the United Kingdom. 2020 February 19. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Rishi Sunak refuses to stick to Boris Johnson's pledge on bringing net migration below 250,000". Sky News. 18 May 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Migration: How many people come to the UK and how are the salary rules changing?". BBC News. 23 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Net migration drops to 685,000 after hitting record levels, as even more arrived in UK last year than previously thought". LBC. 23 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Long-term international migration, provisional: year ending December 2023". Office for National Statistics. 23 May 2024.