Dr Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said:
“Today’s consultation sets out some radical shifts in the UK’s immigration system that would make access to permanent status considerably more restrictive than comparable high-income countries. The policy is built around three basic ideas: making immigration status more temporary for refugees and people with low or no earnings; restricting newcomers’ access to welfare for longer periods of time; and tying people who previously came to the UK to work in the care sector in those jobs for longer, by preventing them from accessing permanent status.
“The proposed policies would have greatly varying effects on different groups of migrants. Many high earners will get a faster route to permanent status, while people with low or no earnings will wait much longer and will not get access to benefits for several years.
“What impacts will all this have? This is just a consultation document and a lot is yet to be worked out. However, if implemented policies bring a trade-off between 1) fiscal benefits of restricting access to welfare and creating an incentive for adult migrants to work; and 2) the risk of poverty for those on the lowest incomes and the risk that not having a secure immigration status will make integration harder.
“The largest single target of the policy changes is arguably care workers. By keeping them in temporary status for longer—perhaps 15 years—the policies would prevent them from leaving their employers and moving into other sectors.
“Major questions remain unclear. These include what will happen to the children of the new generation of temporary migrants. As written, the policy implies a much larger number of ‘mixed status’ families where some people have permanent residence rights and others do not.”
