Boris Johnson to introduce Australian-style points-based immigration system

In a move to end reliance on unskilled labour, Boris Johnson and his team have agreed on a new Australian-style point-based immigration system. The proposed new system will prohibit any EU migrants earning under £23,000 per year from entering the country.

Under the new scheme, skilled migrants will have to prove that they have a job offer paying more than £25,600 – which is actually a lower threshold than currently applies to migrants from outside the EU.

Applicants will also earn ‘points’ for how well they speak English, for example, in some cases fluent English speaking migrants taking jobs paying as little as £23,000 could be granted visas, depending on their skills.

Similar to the American system, all migrants will need to have a secure job offer in place, with more points awarded for areas there are shortages. Those with higher levels of education, or those who were educated in the UK, will also earn more points.

A Downing Street office spokesman said:

‘The system will be simpler and fairer and ill not discriminate between countries and would return democratic control of immigration to the British people,’

‘The PM stressed that we must demonstrate that the UK is open and welcoming to talent from across the world but the new system would end reliance on importing cheap, low-skilled labour -bringing down immigration numbers overall.’

The new points-based system, to be introduced on 1 January next year, will apply whether migrants are coming from the EU or the rest of the world.