Statement from Green Party Asylum & Migration Policy Working Group in response to the Restoring Control over the Immigration System Immigration White Paper published 12 May 2025.
This Immigration White Paper continues the Labour Party’s attacks on people who simply wish to make the UK their home.
From their election mugs celebrating Controls on Immigration, to their copying the language of Taking back Control from Reform, and the Island of Strangers rhetoric from Enoch Powell and the far right, it is clear that Labour do not intend to learn the lessons from the riots of last year. They have the opportunity, and parliamentary majority, to put forward a set of fair and credible policies that support our communities and change the conversation around migration. Instead we have in these proposals more political posturing and the same old blame and division.
The Immigration White Paper sets out the Labour Government position that net migration figures are more important than the health of the economy and UK businesses. The Labour Party is willing to sacrifice our own health and wellbeing by crippling Adult Social Care to placate their friends in Reform.
The Labour Government is not on the side of families either, increasing fees, introducing stringent language requirements and forcing most to now wait at least 10 years before they can settle and make the UK their home, despite the weight of evidence on the harm it causes.
This Immigration White Paper is further evidence that the Home Office is not fit for purpose and should be dismantled. Instead we must implement a fair and humane alternative which recognises that people move and treats all new migrants as potential citizens.
The only party that has the will and policies to do this is the Green Party.
Below we address the keys points in the Immigration White Paper in detail.
Inflammatory Language
The Labour government has learned little from the violent unrest of last summer and continues to use the inflammatory language of the far right when talking about migration.
The Immigration White Paper was introduced by the Prime Minister with words reflecting Enoch Powell, describing people who were not born in the UK as Strangers and with the assertion that the UK has become a one-nation experiment in open borders which will be news to all those subject to the immigration rules, including the 440,737 visit visa applications refused in 2023
We have not lost control of our borders, stating that the Government is Restoring Control is inflammatory. The UK has comprehensive and detailed Immigration Rules and if the Government wants to change them they can do so without this rhetoric of chaos.
The Prime Minister’s statement goes on to say that migrants have caused incalculable damage to the UK, an insult to the millions of people who have made our country their home over the past decades and earlier.
We and countless others have repeatedly warned that the language used in the media and by some politicians dehumanises migrants, that the standard of debate around human rights is a threat to the rule of law.
Rather than addressing the divisions this rhetoric causes in our society, it is clear now that the Labour Government is intent on using the language of the far right.
Migrants Blamed for Austerity
- However, despite the significantly high levels of net migration over recent years, GDP per capita has also stagnated, falling in every quarter since 2022 and by Quarter 2 2024, real GDP per capita was 0.6% below its pre-COVID-19 pandemic level.
- Housing demand (including, but not limited to net migration) has far outpaced the rate of housebuilding in recent years – whilst the big increase in overseas recruitment has been associated with falling support for skills in the UK. While the number of new apprenticeships in engineering in England fell from 26,970 in 2021/22 to 18,520 in 2024/25,18 the number of visas issued for work for Engineering Professionals rose from 3,427 in 2021 to 5,495 in 2024.19
Migrants have been allowed to become the scapegoats for inequality in our society, for our broken housing system and for the austerity that is dismantling our public services.
In his introduction, the Prime Minister connects work visas with lack of training opportunities by saying Our economy has been distorted by perverse incentives to import workers rather than invest in our own skills. In sectors like engineering, for example, apprenticeships have almost halved while visas doubled.
However, as their own figures make clear, 8,450 apprenticeships have been lost in the last four years, whereas work visas for the same post have only increased by 2,068.
The Green Party supports investment into education, training and apprenticeships, we do not support blaming migrants for the historic lack of investment by this government and previous ones.
Skilled Workers
Employers do not hire migrants unless they really need them, the costs for an employer in fees and paperwork are high, before the 32% increase in the immigration skills charge proposed here in #85.
Although identifying deficiencies in training is correct, the White Paper somehow forgets to mention that the Brexit and the pandemic have left a huge gap in the labour market, with 120,000 EU workers leaving the hospitality sector alone. The ending of free movement for EU citizens inevitably increased the need for skilled worker visas over recent years.
The government strategy of raising minimum income thresholds and raising levels to RQF 6 ignores the fact that many jobs are highly skilled but low paid, in the adult social care and hospitality sectors for example.
Both these sectors have high rates of vacancies, 98,000 in the hospitality sector and 131,000 in adult social care, it does not add up that recruiting overseas workers into these sectors are somehow blocking domestic workers from accessing jobs.
UK businesses need to be able to recruit staff, and these proposals will make it more difficult. In 2023, a survey revealed that 61% of hospitality businesses reported staff shortages, leading 42% to reduce weekend opening hours. Staffing problems caused a third of businesses to close on some days or close earlier than before. Despite these issues, hospitality jobs have been left off the Immigration Salary List.
The Green Party would like to see a strategy for skilled worker visas that addresses the problems faced by UK businesses and is not focussed solely on net migration figures.
Adult Social Care
There are currently 300,000 staff from overseas working in the Adult Care Sector in the UK, and 131,000 vacancies as of March 2024. In the same period, 70,000 UK born staff left the sector.
The Fair Pay Agreement for workers in the Adult Social Care sector is a long way off, it is estimated that it will not be until April 2027 at the earliest, and possibly not until after 2029, that any benefits will be seen
In addition, the independent commission into adult social care is not due to be completed until 2028, accordingly the Green Party struggles to see how the drastic move of ending social care visas will be anything less than a disaster for the sector and all the people that rely on it.
Refugee Employment
- Refugees who have had to leave their home country because of persecution often lack the opportunity to apply for jobs and skilled worker visas in the UK, even where they have the talent and training to do so.
The Green Party understands how important work can be for the well-being of people in the UK seeking asylum, as well as the practical benefits it has for society as a whole. Our policy is that all asylum seekers should be allowed to take up employment while waiting for a decision on their application..
- Drawing from the experience of the Displaced Talent Programme, we will explore reforms to allow a limited pool of UNHCR recognised refugees and displaced people living overseas to apply for employment through our existing sponsored worker routes where they have the skills to do so.
The Green Party have concerns about the concept of the Displaced Talent Programme. If people are seeking asylum and/or have been recognised as refugees then they should be treated as such as defined in the ECHR. We do not support a two tier refugee system being put in place that prioritises, or only accepts, refugees that fulfil the requirements of sponsored worker routes.
In any case, an assessment of the programme found that costs to employers were a significant barrier to demand. We therefore have concerns that the regular increases in fees, along with other restrictions such as proposed salary threshold increases, will present further barriers to the effectiveness of this route.
Students
- The majority of the students claiming asylum do so as they approach their visa expiry date. This indicates that some people might therefore be using the student route to make claims for humanitarian protection when circumstances in their country have not changed.
It is entirely reasonable for someone to want to study abroad if they are facing difficulties at home. After studies are completed, and if a graduate is struggling to switch to another visa route, then we see no reason why they should not claim humanitarian protection if they fear returning to their home country.
Why does the government not recognise that some migrants may prefer to apply for regular visas rather than claim asylum in the first instance as these give them the right to study and work, and only claim asylum as a last resort if they are unable to continue on these routes..
- The intention behind the Graduate route was to support the economy, and that meant that the vast majority of Graduate visa holders would go into graduate level jobs, at RQF 6 and above, and thereby make the level of contribution to the UK economy that their visa status warrants.
- However, in practice, the evidence suggests that under a third are working in occupations that can confidently be assessed to be RQF6 and above. The survey evidence presented in Figure 10 below shows that:
- 30% of surveyed Graduate visa holders were employed in professional occupations, the significant majority of which are RQF 6 and above
- 31% were employed in occupational groups where the significant majority are RQF level 3 (A-Level equivalent) and below, including administrative and secretarial occupations and
- The remaining cohort were either unable or unwilling to report their occupation or were employed in varying RQF level occupations.
This highlights a wider issue with the education sector, indeed only 67% of working age UK graduates were in high-skilled employment in 2023, i.e. 33% were not which is a higher percentage than those of graduate visas.
It therefore should come as no surprise that a proportionate of those on graduate visas are struggling to find RQF6 jobs and above, if UK born graduates are struggling as well. Rather than trying to blame migrants for not trying hard enough, the government should be concentrating on creating opportunities for all graduates to find employment.
- Therefore, we will reduce the ability for Graduates to remain in the UK after their studies to a period of 18 months. The Government will explore introducing a levy on higher education provider income from international students, to be reinvested into the higher education and skills system. Further details will be set out in the Autumn Budget
We support immigration of the highly educated and young who can contribute to our economy and build lives here. Therefore the Green Party recognises the time it takes for graduates to find the right jobs for them and our policy is to permit graduates to stay for three years after their studies are completed.
Families
- Unfortunately, over the years, the system for family migration has become overly complex, developing increasingly around court decisions and case law, including court interpretations of Article 8 of the Human Rights Act (based on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)). An overly high proportion of family-related immigration cases are now decided on the basis that they are “exceptional” to the normal rules, rather than being in line with the rules set down by Parliament, and that undermines control and confidence.
Although we can support attempts to make the Immigration Rules simpler and more realistic to the circumstances of families, it must be remembered that families are exceptional with an infinite combination of peculiar circumstances. It is therefore entirely correct that the courts have a part to play in decisions and interpretation, as in other areas of law.
We are unclear what family visas have to do with small boats, no figures on Appendix FM application from small boat arrivals, but Since 2018, 94% of the people arriving on a small boat have had an asylum claim recorded.
- Before the end of this year, we will set out a new family policy that will:
- cover all UK residents including those who are British, settled, on work routes or refugees seeking to bring family members to the UK
- have clear relationship requirements, designed to ensure only those in genuine, subsisting relationships qualify, reduce forced marriage and include protections for victims of domestic abuse
- ensure those coming to the UK have an appropriate level of English language skills, to be able to effectively integrate into local communities
- ensure the family unit has sufficient money financially to support any migrants without relying on the taxpayer through reviewing and extending the financial requirements to other dependant routes, and
- ensure that those who serve or have served as members of HM Armed Forces, bravely protecting our country, and their dependants, have their rights to reside in the UK and become British citizens protected in line with this Government’s commitment to them, in the Armed Forces Covenant.
Clear relationship guidelines already exist, so these ‘new’ family rules appear to be just setting out that families need higher incomes and have a higher standard of English spoken. The Green Party believes families should be together regardless of their income.
- This framework will also seek to limit successful claims from those who seek to:
- get round the rules, for example by falsely claiming an intention to come to the UK as a short-term visitor, and then seeking to stay on the basis of family relationships
- frustrate and delay removal with spurious claims in an attempt to stretch out their stay in the UK, and thereby increase the eventual likelihood of having an Article 8 claim upheld, and
- make immediate claims for wider family members after arriving in the UK including after making dangerous journeys to get here.
- To do this we will bring forward legislation to:
- strengthen the public interest test to make it clear that Parliament needs to be able to control our country’s borders and take back control over who comes to, and stays in the UK, striking the right balance between individual family rights and the wider public interest
- clarify Article 8 rules and set out how they should apply in different immigration routes so that fewer cases are treated as “exceptional”, and
- set out when and how a person can genuinely make a claim on the basis of exceptional circumstances.
Clarifying Article 8 rules so less applications are exceptional can only mean infringing on human rights, which will then lead to more exceptional cases – this is a confusing mess. Our only conclusion is that the Labour government are planning to restrict human rights..
Windrush
- This Government has announced a major reset of the Home Office’s approach to addressing the issues arising from the Windrush scandal. To this end, we have re-established the Windrush Unit to drive systemic, cultural change across the Home Office as well as taking forward a review of the Department’s response to the Windrush Lessons Learned Review including the 30 recommendations it contained. We are committed to better supporting victims to apply for compensation, with £1.5 million in grant funding announced to increase advocacy support.
Despite the good intentions set out in this section, the government has not even followed the recommendations of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review in writing this Immigration White Paper, specifically:
Recommendation 8 The Home Office should take steps to understand the groups and communities that its policies affect through improved engagement, social research, and by involving service users in designing its services. In doing this, ministers should make clear that they expect officials to seek out a diverse range of voices and prioritise community-focused policy by engaging with communities, civil society and the public.
There has been no sign of this attempt of understanding and indeed on 15th May 2025, over 100 refugee, migrant, and racial equality organisations urgently calling for a meeting with the Home Secretary after multiple formal requests since the General Election have been ignored.
Tighter Controls
- We will also introduce tighter controls, restrictions and scrutiny of those who attempt to abuse and misuse the immigration system, and who arrive with a pre-existing intention to claim asylum on, or after, arrival, even when there has been no material change in their home country to warrant such a claim.
The Home Office appear to think that it is wrong to try and get to the UK on a safe and legal route to claim asylum. Why not try and be a student or worker first and then only claim asylum if that doesn’t work out? Indeed this is what is proposed above in #83.
eVisas
- We will use the completed rollout of eVisas as a vehicle to encourage compliance with the rules, using the newly gathered intelligence from the eVisa database to remind people when their visas are due to expire, or have already expired, and take action when they fail to do so themselves.
The recent rollout of eVisas has been beset by problems, with an estimated 700,000 people still not registered by the extended 1st June 2025 deadline.
The lack of a physical biometric residence card denies many migrants a vital ID document and they have been left unable to apply for bank accounts, evidence their rights to work and study, and apply for benefits. Indeed The Unity Project found that the majority of eVisas were not updated when applicants were granted recourse to public funds, leaving the stranded when at their most vulnerable.
The system has suffered major outages in recent months, and often displays incorrect information, spelling mistakes and the wrong conditions.
Despite these problems, the Labour government believes that this technology can be relied upon to take action against people, we disagree.
Expansion of the Ten Year Route
An estimated 170,000 people are already on a Ten Year route to settlement. These people have to renew their visa on time at least three times, paying large application fees, and this long period of uncertainty and stress has a detrimental effect for many on this route.
A recent report by Praxis, GMIAU and IPPR found that “the associated high costs, repeated renewals, complexity and NRPF place considerable pressure on people for a prolonged period of their lives and hold people back from achieving all they could for themselves and their families, their communities and the economy.”
Green Party policy is to reduce all routes to five years only, we believe this is long enough for people to establish a private life in the UK if they wish to do so and we see no reason to prolong their application process, or delay their fuller integration into British society any longer than this.
We are concerned about the principles of Earned Settlement and Earned Citizenship. The ability to apply for these statuses should be right and not a privilege based on the whims of Home Office ministers.
Instead the Green Party seeks to establish a system that recognises that all migrants are treated as citizens in waiting and therefore supports and encourages them to put down roots in their new home.
English Language
According to the 2021 Census for England and Wales, a significant majority of migrants reported proficiency in English, over 90% of migrants stated they could speak English without difficulty, and only 1% of migrants indicated they could not speak English at all.
These statistics would suggest that the plan to increase English language requirements for visas is not needed and that particularly the requirements for dependants is designed to break up families and make unnecessarily difficult.
Green Party policy is for language requirements to be removed from all applications, and free language classes will be made available to promote and encourage integration. People already have an incentive to learn English when in the UK we do not need to punish them if they find this difficult.
