LONDON – The UK government’s decision to introduce recent immigration-related policy changes is now showing results with visa applicants witnessing a significant drop.
The latest statistics published by the government on Wednesday imply that there has been a sharp decline in the number of overseas health and care workers applying for visas in the first few months of this year as compared to the year before.
As far as the statistics are concerned, only 12,400 people applied for the Health and Care Worker visa from January to April this year. The figure recorded last year was 50,900 applications – 76% more than this year.
The decline comes as Rishi Sunak’s government introduced a series of measures aimed at discouraging immigration. The government changed visa rules and the minimum salary for Skilled Worker Visas was increased from £26,000 to £38,700.
There are multiple reasons behind the decline in visa applicants including the fact that Social care workers are no longer able to bring any dependents on their visa.
The government has also tweaked student visa rules under which international students can not bring their dependents to the country with few exemptions.
UK is not the only country amending its laws to discourage immigrants as Australia and Canada have also introduced measures to discourage international students.
The government of Canada has announced to reduce the intake of international students by 35 percent compared to 2023; Australia has also introduced strict measures against international students.
At one end, the governments around the world are inking visa-free agreements while at the other end, immigration is being discouraged through fresh rules and policies.
