Women And Small Businesses Are Hardest Hit By New UK Migrant Rules

The United Kingdom (UK) has announced plans to slash the number of migrants arriving by legal routes amid pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to tackle record net migration figures.

The annual net migration to the United Kingdom hit a record of 745,000 in 2022. Since then, the number has increased significantly. Many migrants came to the UK from places like India, Nigeria and China.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said, “Immigration is too high. Today, we’re taking radical action to bring it down.” Home Secretary (interior minister) James Cleverly said that the new measures aim to reduce the number of migrants arriving by legal routes.

Women and small businesses are hardest hit by new UK migrant rules

Women with children and smaller businesses will be hardest hit by the new UK migrant rules. According to trade groups and migration experts, the new rules can wreak havoc on the personal lives of migrants and hit women disproportionately.

According to a report by Financial Times, Madeleine Sumption, the director of Oxford university’s Migration Observatory think-tank, said that the migration rules could hit women harder as they earned less on average than men.

Women who wanted to return to the UK after living abroad could be hardest hit by new UK migrant rules. 

Colin Yeo, a barrister and founder of Free Movement, wrote on X (previously Twitter) that the new rules can “destroy many lives.” Yeo said, “It’s particularly punishing to those outside London, minority communities and British citizens returning from abroad.”

UK aims to reduce migration

The United Kingdom has significantly raised the salary requirement for work visa applicants. If a person wants to apply for a work visa, they will have to earn £38,700 to qualify, which was earlier £26,000.

The new immigration rules aim to reduce net migration in the UK ahead of a general election expected next year.

New immigration rules

• Salary threshold to qualify to bring spouse to UK will be £38,700
• UK will review its graduate route to visas to avoid overstaying
• Care companies will require more regulation to sponsor visas

Last month, thousands of migrant workers faced exploitation in the United Kingdom because of multiple failures in the government’s employer sponsorship scheme. 

One migrant woman from India was stranded in the UK. She had to find a sponsor employer within 60 days to stay in the UK. She paid £20,000 to an agent in her home country to secure a UK work visa. Migrant workers faced risk of exploitation because of failures in the Home Office’s employer sponsorship scheme.