Problems with the immigration cap

Despite tougher border controls and the immigration cap, why has net immigration actually increased since the new Government come to power.

The answer is quite simple.

A number of those moving into the UK are returning British citizens.

There is nothing the UK can do about the EU nationals, who are estimated to make up about a third of all arrivals. The only solution would be to exit the EU which is simply not going to happen.

In the end, the only people whose entry can be controlled are the non-EU nationals.

It would be hard to prevent family members joining those already here.

Assuring that only students enrolling at valid Universities would help but they make up only a small percentage. Reducing the number of foreign students will affect one of highest foreign exchange earners of the country. Plus the research output generated contributes to the reputation and wealth of the nation. Plus most of the students are only here for a short period of time and some experts are saying that they should not even be classed in the same category as long term immigrants.

However, there is a big loop hole in the cap - there is nothing the Government can do about MNC bringing in foreign workers on "intra-company transfers".

So that leaves a minority of people - the skilled migrants and exceptional talented migrants - artists, academics, scientists, etc. The kind of people who can contribute to the country and whom the country should welcome.

Ultimately this leaves asylum seekers, refugees and illegal immigrants.
What can be done is to crack down on illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers.

Cap on Skilled Immigration

A permanent annual cap comes in to effect in the UK from today. The cap will be 21,700 annually with 4200 places this month and 1500 each month after that.

Various comments:

"The cap on skilled immigration is an example of how the target is leading to bad policy. It will keep out the highly-skilled migrants who contribute most to the UK economy and to the public purse: the people that the public aren’t especially worried about. " - Reducing Immigration: Caps, limits and the perils of political targets By Sarah Mulley

According to Damian Green “To often over the past ten years it has been the first resort. Britain became addicted to immigration as a solution to a number of problems and we have to wean ourselves off that addiction." - Britain is "addicted to immigration" warns minister by Tom Whitehead.

"This is a short-sighted policy on the part of the government and is indicative of the coalition's chaotic approach to higher education reform. It will hamper universities already struggling to maintain their world-leading status in a hostile funding climate, and will contribute to a decline in "innovation and skills" that we all will be lamenting in ten years' time." - Why the immigration cap spells trouble for universities by Tamson Pietsch

"It is clearly essential that unduly tight restrictions on economic migration should not impede the economic recovery on which so much else depends. This appears unlikely due to the generous limit and partial nature of the cap; it doesn’t cover ICTs or in country extensions." - The cap on economic migration - will it have much effect? Migration Watch UK

Also read Q&A: UK immigration cap By Dominic Casciani