- UK Announces Biggest-Ever Reduction, Cuts Immigration Figure By 300,000
- Health Workers Lucky To Obtain Visa Can No Longer Bring In Family Members
- To Be Eligible For Visa, You Must Have A Job That Pays £38,700, Up From £26,200
The aspiration of many Nigerians to leave the country for abroad in search of greener pastures will soon become even more difficult as the United Kingdom, one of the most popular destinations for Nigerians seeking to Japa from the country has announced very stringent visa measures aimed at curbing migration to the country.
The Matrix reports that as the economy continues to falter and inflation erodes the purchasing power of more Nigerians, millions of Nigerians have resorted to seeking greener pastures abroad. This has become immensely popular in recent times so much so that a moniker, Japa, was coined for it.
A trip to many Embassies and foreign missions will witness thousands of Nigerian youths and even adults rushing to almost stampede each other in a quest to obtain a visa.
Earlier this week, The Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, David Greene disclosed that his country has issued 150, 000 visas to Nigerians in 2023 alone while lamenting that demands for visas exceed supply.
Hear him; “The demand for visa appointments exceeds the supply, but we want to reassure the public that appointments are available, and we are actively working to address this challenge,” Greene stated.
“This year alone, we have conducted over 150,000 interviews with Nigerians, including 30,000 with students, providing ample opportunities for U.S. visa applications,” he said.
Similarly, the Home Office, the UK’s Migration Department, recently stated that 143,990 health and care worker visas were granted in the year ending September 2023.
This is more than double the 61,274 for the year to September 2022.
The top three nationalities, according to the Home Office, on these visas are Indians, Nigerians and Zimbabweans.
Nigeria has the most significant percentage increase behind Zimbabwe at 169 per cent and India, with 76 per cent.
In terms of dependents granted health and care work visas, Nigeria spiked by 329 per cent from 10,533 to 45,203.
All these will soon come to an end when the new measures proposed by the UK Home Office come into effect.
A statement released by the Home Office on Monday said the new plan to slash migration levels and curb abuse of the immigration system will deliver the biggest-ever reduction in the country’s net migration.
“Together, this package will mean around 300,000 people who came to the UK last year would now not be able to come,” the statement said.
Under plans set out by James Cleverly, Home Secretary, workers will need to earn at least £38,700 to obtain a visa, up from £26,200, while care workers will be barred from bringing in dependents from next April.
In a statement to MPs, the Home Secretary said migration to the UK “needs to come down” and there had been “abuse” of health and care visas for years.
“Enough is enough,” Mr Cleverly said. “Immigration policy must be fair, legal, and sustainable.”
The Home Office added that the revision will encourage “businesses to look to British talent first and invest in their workforce, helping us to deter employers from over-relying on migration, whilst bringing salaries in line with the average full-time salary for these types of jobs”.
“The government will also increase the minimum income required for British citizens and those settled in the UK who want their family members to join them,” the statement added.
“Altogether, this reinforces that all those who want to work and live here must be able to support themselves, are contributing to the economy, and are not burdening the state.”
The Home Office also reiterated plans to review the graduate visa route “to ensure it works in the best interests of the UK and to ensure steps are being taken to prevent abuse”.
In May, the government announced a package of measures to cut the number of student visas being issued, including removing the right for international students to bring dependants unless they are on postgraduate research courses and removing the ability for international students to switch onto work routes before their studies are completed.
This will come into force for courses starting in January 2024.
“Immigration is too high. Today we’re taking radical action to bring it down. These steps will make sure that immigration always benefits the UK,” Rishi Sunak, British prime minister, had written on X, formerly Twitter.
“We’ve just announced the biggest-ever cut in net migration. No Prime Minister has done this before in history. But the level of net migration is too high and it has to change. I am determined to do it.”
The crackdown would affect many Nigerian students hoping to pursue their postgraduate studies in the UK, as they accounted for the highest increase in the number of dependants accompanying persons with study visas in 2022.
See the highlight of the new measures below;
- Ban health and care workers bringing family dependants to the UK
- End companies being able to pay workers 20% less than the going rate for jobs on a shortage occupation list
- Increase the annual charge foreign workers pay to use the NHS from £624 to £1,035
- Raise the minimum income for family visas to £38,700, from £18,600 from next spring (April)
- Ask the government’s migration adviser to review the graduate visa route to “prevent abuse” amongst others.
