Foreign businessmen and those on high salaries will be safe under the Home Office’s new plans to introduce rules designed to reduce immigrants’ rights to settle permanently in the UK.
The proposal will abolish the current rule that enables those from abroad the right to live in the UK permanently if they work here for five years.
The government also plans to look at restricting the right of immigrant spouses and family members to a British passport if they stay long enough.
The new plans comes under David Cameron’s aim to reduce net immigration to the ‘tens of thousands’, after the number of immigrants have plummeted from 51,000 to 241,000 since 1997.
However, those on high income, businessmen and millionaire investors will be excluded from this policy because the Government say they create jobs and contribute greatly to the economy.
“Mrs Theresa May and Damian Green, the immigration minister, want to break the link between working and settling in Britain,” the Sunday Times newspaper quoted a government source as saying.
“It has become almost automatic for people who keep their noses clean and don’t get a criminal record. They are not against people coming here to work, but that shouldn’t automatically mean they get to stay in Britain for ever.”
But under the new policy, a new ‘hurdle’ will be introduced for immigrants wishing to remain here permanently, based in their ability to support themselves and their families, their qualifications and whether they are working in occupations where trained Britons are limited.
Once someone has gained ‘indefinite leave to remain’, they are permitted to apply for a British passport.
According to the report, the number of immigrants taking advantage of Labour’s immigration rules has spiralled out of control in the past 14 years.
The plans will be published before the end of the year and will allow foreigners to gain a visa to work in Britain – but will not allow them to remain here permanently because they have been staying here for five years.
These restrictions have already begun on student visas and the number of work permits given to non-EU nationals.
However, EU nationals who have a right to live in the UK are not affected.
The Economic Times say that more than half of those given the right to stay in Britain last year were from Pakistan and India, while 27 per cent were from African countries.
More than 7,000 Iraqis and 8,401 Iranians were given the right to settle.
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