UK IMMIGRATION

Proposals:

• The government is proposing a single immigration system that treats migrants from EU countries in the same way as those from non-EU countries.
  
  
• Highly skilled workers who want to live and work in Britain will be given priority.
  
  
• However, the ability of people from trading partners to deliver services and student exchange programmes will form part of future trade agreements.
  
  
• Government is considering scrapping the current cap of 20,700 on highly skilled migrants as part of the post-Brexit vision.
  
  
• Successful applicants for highly skilled work will be able to bring their immediate family – but only if sponsored by their future employers.
  
  

How is it different?

• The most significant change will be the end to freedom of movement within the European Union.
  
  
• At present, any citizen of an EU member state can come to the UK to live and work. Post-Brexit, EU citizens will be broadly subject to same rules as non-EU citizens. Treating EU and non-EU nationals the same will allow the government, to prioritise highly skilled migrants over low-skilled migrants.
  
  
• Holidaymakers and business travellers from the EU do not require a visa to enter the UK, whereas under the new framework they will.
  
  

Impact:

• The proposals will benefit British workers previously overlooked for jobs due to cheap migrant labour.
  
  
• But British citizens who want to work in the EU are also set to suffer. As it stands, Britons can emigrate to any EU member state to live and work. This right will be severely curtailed.
  
  
• The proposals work against EU citizens and because the most dramatic departure from the status quo is the restrictions to EU migration. It will also impact India because of restrictions imposed on bringing their immediate family members.
  
  
• Industries that rely on so-called low-skilled labour will struggle to recruit workers. This includes those in the health, care and hospitality sectors.