International workers must wait a decade before gaining UK citizenship under migration crackdown

Keir Starmer sets about reducing net migration numbers to 'take back control' of Britain's borders

Migrants working in the UK must wait longer to gain citizenship under new proposals. Pictured, office workers and commuters in Canary Wharf in London during morning rush hour. PA

The UK is to make the path to citizenship longer as part of an overhaul of the immigration system, with international workers told they must now spend up to a decade in the country before they can become British.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to significantly reduce migration, which has risen sharply in recent years and led to the rise of the anti-migration Reform Party surging in popularity.

He refused to set a numerical target but said the UK risks becoming an “island of strangers” without controls on immigration. He claimed the current system was “almost designed to permit abuse, that encourages some businesses to bring in lower-paid workers rather than invest in our young people”.

Net migration stood at less than 100,000 five years ago but driven by non-EU citizens it reached 728,000 in the year to mid-2024. A rise in the number of people entering the country illegally on small boats from France has also fuelled the issue.

In a Downing Street speech before the details of the plan have been published, the Prime Minister said his Labour government would “take back control of our borders” and close the book on a “squalid chapter” for politics and the economy.

The government’s plan links migration with skills and growth, and will also involve changes to the benefits system, encouraging more people to work in the care sector, one of the most likely areas of employment for foreign workers.

New rules

Under the proposals, the period migrants must live in the UK before being able to obtain citizenship will rise from five years to 10, but so-called high-contributing people such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.

This move potentially risks looking unattractive in a global competition for the best and brightest, when countries such as America maintain a five-year limit.

There were 200,362 applications for British citizenship in the year ending March 2023.

Other proposals include:

• Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
• Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
• Skilled worker visas will require a university degree and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer after giving a speech outlining the government's immigration proposals. EPA

Asked why the public should believe the new plans to reduce immigration will succeed when previous legislation has failed, Mr Starmer said: “It looks at all routes, and it’s comprehensive and it does the hard yards of linking skills and business to what we need to do with the economy, so it’s not a narrow look just at the numbers, it puts them in their proper context.”

He laid the blame for the increase in numbers at the door of the previous Conservative government, saying an “open borders experiment” had failed.

“Between 2019 and 2023, even as they were going round our country telling people with a straight face that they would get immigration down, net migration quadrupled until in 2023 it reached nearly one million,” he said. “That’s about the population of Birmingham, our second-largest city. That’s not control. It’s chaos."

Reforms that make Britain a less attractive study destination or increase costs for universities will have a “knock-on” effect on the strength of higher education as a growth export, the Confederation of British Industry has said.

Chief executive of the confederation Rain Newton-Smith said many of the principles in the plans will be supported by businesses, "including taking a targeted approach to legal migration and resisting an arbitrary target".

She said businesses should not be “long-term reliant” on immigration and the reality facing firms is that it is “more expensive and difficult to fill a vacancy” with immigration than if they could train and hire local workers.

She added: “Universities are centres of growth, innovation and opportunities. Policy changes that risk making the UK a less attractive place to study or increase costs confronting universities will have knock-on impacts for the competitive strength of UK Higher Education as a growth export, and young people’s ability to access degree-level education at home. These trade-offs need to be considered if the Government is serious about developing domestic talent and driving growth.”