New immigration system announced in the UK

On 1 January 2021, the free movement rights for UK nationals travelling to the EU and vice versa will end. We can inform you that the UK government has recently released its plans for a new immigration system. These are to take effect immediately after freedom of movement between the EU and the UK will have come to an end.

Effects of the new UK immigration system

When compared to the current freedom of movement, a new immigration system may slow down immigration processes quite a bit and increase costs, which seems generally undesirable for the UK’s economic climate.

For low skilled workers the government states that ‘employers will need to adjust’ and that employers must ‘move away from a reliance on the UK’s immigration system as an alternative to investment in staff retention, productivity and wider investment in technology and automation’, which is quite an outspoken view and implies border protection.

There is however a highly skilled work visa in the pipeline and the UK governments’ expectations of this are rather high, given the tagline: ‘New points-based immigration system will open up the UK to the brightest and the best from around the world’. In order to determine the level of skill an employee possesses, points are awarded, which in turn means that the most priority is given to the highest skilled migrants.

Pre-existing situations

EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in an EU country who are already there before 1 January 2021 will be able to stay. They may need to register their status.

What to do

There is a lot that can be done in advance and planning ahead is key in order to stay on top of things. Always consult with an immigration expert to ensure you understand the rules that apply. Get in touch with myself or your local Crowe expert.