UK citizenship could end up harder to attain than US

New rules will see migrants face a decade-long wait to apply

- ALICJA HAGOPIAN

The government has unveiled a slate of new requirements and restrictions around migration to the UK, from a higher level of English language proficiency to eliminating the care worker visa pathway entirely.

“If you want to live in the UK, you should speak English. That’s common sense,” said Sir Keir Starmer on X (formerly Twitter).

The changes could make British citizenship among the hardest to achieve in the anglophone world, with a decade-long wait to apply.

“Extending the standard route to settlement to 10 years risks making it harder for people to contribute and settle into their communities,” said Marley Morris, associate director at the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Here, The Independent looks at how some of Labour’s new rules compare to immigration systems in the US, Australia and New Zealand.

Migration still at high levels

The most recent figure for net migration to the UK stands at 728,000 people in the year to June 2024. Some 1.2 million people entered the country during that period, while 479,000 left the UK.

“A one-nation experiment in open borders conducted on a country that voted for control. Well, no more,” Sir Keir said yesterday. “The experiment is over. We will deliver what you have asked for – time and again – and we will take back control of our borders.”

The figure was down overall by 20 per cent from the previous year, when net migration hit a record-high level of 906,000 in the year to June 2023. Net migration to the UK remains far above its pre-Brexit level, when it stood at around 200,000 to 250,000.

New migration figures are set to be released next week, revealing the first full migration numbers since Sir Keir’s Labour government came to power. The figures, showing net migration up to December last year, will provide an insight into the effectiveness of the government’s immigration strategy so far.