Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown has argued that immigration to the UK will fall when the new rules are implemented.
In clamping down on migrants to the country, Brown signalled that the right to stay permanently in England after living for a certain number of years would be rescinded.
“Instead, we have said that after living here for five years, migrants will have to apply to become probationary citizens and at that point, they will have to pass a points-based test,” Brown said.
He also announced a review of the granting of work permits and student visas. The review team will consider whether visas should be granted only to foreign students on degree and postgraduate courses, and stopped for those seeking to take shorter courses leading to lower-level qualifications.
In addition, the prime minister promised that local workers will be given additional opportunities to secure available jobs, with the extension from two to four weeks of the period for which they must be advertised in job centres before employers seek to recruit overseas.
