Is it becoming harder to move to a new country?
Everywhere seems to be tightening the rules. Canada, the US, Australia, Europe, Japan, the UK. Countries that once focused on attracting people are now focused on control, limits, and conditions. And these changes are happening fast.
If you’re thinking about moving to the UK, already living in the UK, or interested in how the world and immigration is changing, I think this episode matters to you. Because what’s happening in British immigration policy is part of a much bigger global shift.
Today, we’re going to break down the UK’s new immigration plans. We’ll talk about what’s changing, who will be affected, and why these rules are becoming stricter.
As this is Thinking in English, I’ll avoid legal jargon, explain everything clearly, and highlight the key vocabulary as we go, so you can understand the policy and improve your English at the same time.
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Vocabulary
- Tighten (v): To make rules, controls, or conditions stricter or harder to meet.
- The government plans to tighten immigration rules in response to public pressure.
- Indefinite Leave to Remain (n): A UK immigration status that allows a person to live and work in the UK permanently without extending a visa.
- After living in the UK for several years, she applied for Indefinite Leave to Remain.
- Migration (n): The movement of people from one country or region to another.
- Economic migration increases when job opportunities are limited at home.
- Immigration policy (n): The laws and rules a government uses to control who can enter, stay, and settle in a country.
- Changes to immigration policy will affect international workers and students.
- Settlement (n): The process of gaining the right to live permanently in a country.
- The new system makes settlement dependent on income, work history, and language ability.
- Skilled worker (n): A person whose job requires specific training, experience, or qualifications.
- Skilled workers in healthcare are still in high demand in the UK.
- Pathway (n): A planned route or sequence of steps that leads to a long-term goal.
- Studying at a UK university is no longer a guaranteed pathway to settlement.
Global Trends in Immigration
Across many developed countries, populations are aging and birth rates are falling. Fewer young people are entering the workforce, while more people are retiring.
On paper, immigration [00:04:00] should be the solution or could be one of the solutions to this problem. But in reality, immigration has become politically sensitive and a controversial topic in many places. Governments are under pressure from voters who are worried about housing shortages, crowded public services, and rising living costs.
When things get more difficult in a country, people often blame immigration. For example, when it feels harder to find an apartment or get a job, immigration is an easy target in political debates, even when the causes of these problems are usually much more complex.
Because of this pressure, countries like the UK, Canada, Australia, and several European nations are all tightening their immigration rules at the same time.
The key shift in [00:05:00] many countries is that immigration systems are moving towards something that is more conditional. Governments are increasingly thinking about what they want potential immigrants to contribute to society, and how long they want immigrants to contribute.
There is a concept that has started to be discussed in the UK recently, and I think it will shape a lot of other countries’ immigration systems too… earned settlement.
In earned settlement, things like permanent residence and citizenship are not automatic after a number of years. Instead, they are something you have to earn over time.
You can earn your right to live somewhere through work, through paying taxes, through having a high salary, speaking a language, being involved in a community. And the UK’s new [00:06:00] immigration policy fits into this larger global pattern.
Once you understand the bigger picture, I think some of the rule changes in the UK start to make more sense.
UK’s New Immigration Rules
In May 2025, the UK published a new immigration white paper. A white paper is a government policy document. It explains the government’s plans and their intentions, but it’s not a law yet. In other words, it shows the direction the government wants to take.
The overall aim of the UK’s new immigration policy is very clear in the white paper: to reduce net migrationand to make immigration more selective. To achieve this, the government plans to raise standards across all visas. They want new immigrants to have higher skills, higher incomes, and stronger [00:07:00] English language ability.
While some of the proposals in this white paper are still being discussed, even as I’m recording this episode, they might have changed since it’s been recorded, others have already been implemented and more changes are scheduled to come into force soon.
Indefinite Leave to Remain
The biggest and most controversial change in the UK’s new immigration policy is to do with Indefinite Leave to Remain, often called ILR.
Indefinite Leave to Remain means that you can live in the UK permanently. You don’t need to extend your visa. You can usually work without restrictions. And it’s the final step before applying for British citizenship, if that’s something you want to do.
For many migrants, ILR has always been the main long-term goal. In some other countries, the equivalent immigration status would be permanent resident [00:08:00] or in the US having a green card.
Under the old UK system ILR was relatively straightforward. If you were on most work or family visas, you could usually apply for ILR after five years of living legally in the UK. If you stayed long enough and you followed the rules, settlement was possible. It wasn’t particularly difficult.
But the UK government is planning to change this significantly. And the first changes are coming in April 2026, so just in a few weeks.
Under the new policy plans, 10 years will become the baseline for settlement. A baseline means the standard or default level. So it’s not the maximum or the minimum, but the point from which everything else is measured. Instead of 5 years being the normal waiting period, 10 years will become the starting [00:09:00] point.
This doesn’t mean everyone will have to wait 10 years.
Some groups are likely to qualify faster, but as of the time I’m writing this, the government has not clarified. Potentially highly skilled workers, especially those earning higher salaries, or people working in public sector roles like healthcare and teaching, or perhaps people on family visas, especially those who are family members of British citizens, maybe they will be exempt from waiting a full 10 years.
But for other immigrants, the waiting time will be much longer. People in medium skilled jobs could face waiting up to 15 years. And refugees, unless they arrive through a specific resettlement program, might have to wait even longer… up to 30 years.
Importantly, time alone will no longer be enough to qualify for indefinite leave to remain. Under [00:10:00] the new system, settlement is something you earn, not something you automatically receive.
As I said, we’re still unsure about the specifics, but the UK plans to have a points based system. Things like paying your taxes, earning a high income, volunteering in your local community and speaking advanced English will give you a better chance of being able to stay in the UK permanently.
English Language Requirements
Another clear change in the UK’s immigration policy is the rise in English language requirements.
For many work-related visas, the required level is increasing from a B1 to a B2 on the CEFR scale. So basically an increase from intermediate English to upper intermediate.
You will need to understand more complex ideas, explain your opinions more clearly, and be able to [00:11:00] communicate confidently. And it’s not just the main visa holder who will need to speak English. Partners and dependents, so people like husbands, wives, and children of visa holders, will also be affected.
People joining someone already in the UK will now need to show a basic level of English, and if they later want to extend their visa or apply for permanent residence, they will need to prove a higher level again.
The UK is not the only country doing this. It’s not the only country considering increasing language proficiency for visa holders. I live in Japan, and it has been widely reported in the media that Japan will be introducing Japanese language requirements for some immigration statuses for the first time.
There are a number of different reasons why countries care about language. The biggest reason is integration.
Language is the [00:12:00] key to participating in society. If you can’t speak English in the UK, it’s going to be difficult to make friends or understand rules or feel part of the community.
Employment is also an important reason. Stronger English ability in the UK is linked to higher productivity and fewer misunderstandings.
The weaker your language skills are the less productive you are on average to the economy. You’re gonna be earning less money and paying less taxes. And what the UK government wants is people on higher salaries, paying higher taxes. They don’t want low income immigrants anymore.
A third reason is public trust. Governments want voters to believe that new immigrants will be able to contribute and communicate and integrate into society. Language is the most obvious, the most visible, the most measurable [00:13:00] sign of this.
Changes to Work Visas
Now let’s talk a little bit about work visas, because this is where many of the most immediate changes are happening.
The skilled worker visa in the UK has become much more restrictive. In the past, a wide range of jobs were eligible. Now that list is much shorter.
Many medium skilled roles have been removed from eligibility. These are jobs that require training and experience, but not necessarily a university degree.
There are still job shortages where sponsorship is possible even without degrees. However, these exceptions are temporary. They’re designed to deal with immediate labor shortages, and they’re not really designed to provide a long-term immigration pathway.
In some of these cases, people can still come to the UK for work, but they cannot bring dependents. You cannot bring your husband or your wife or your [00:14:00] children. For many workers, that makes these visas far less attractive.
Health and care worker visas are also changing, but not in the same way for everyone. The biggest change affects adult social care. I think recruitment from overseas has already ended or will be ending soon. This includes jobs like care workers or home support workers.
Doctors and nurses and other regulated health professionals are obviously not affected by this change. The National Health Service in the UK still relies heavily on overseas staff. So if you are a skilled doctor, or a nurse or a regulated health professional, something like a physiotherapist or a radiographer, there are still pathways for people like you.
The overall message from the UK, is that the UK is narrowing the definition of skilled work and closing off some of the pathways that once allowed people to stay and gradually [00:15:00] settle.
Impact on Student and Graduate Visas
Many Thinking in English listeners, I think, dream of studying in the UK, so I should probably talk about the changes to student and graduate visas as well.
For many years immigrants have studied in UK universities with the hope of gaining a job or a career in the UK after graduation. Unfortunately, the pathway from student to worker is getting increasingly more challenging.
One of the biggest changes is the graduate visa. This is the visa a student is eligible for after they graduate from university. For most students, this visa will be reduced from two years to just 18 months.
At the same time, the living cost requirements for students will increase. International students must now show they have more money available before they can even apply for a visa. For many people, this makes studying in the UK more [00:16:00] expensive.
Moving from a student visa or a graduate visa to a working visa is now harder than it used to be. Fewer jobs are eligible for sponsorship, and you have to meet high salary thresholds.
Basically to get a company to sponsor you for work in the UK, you need to earn above the average UK worker, which is not easy to do necessarily as a young student.
And also employers are much more cautious about sponsoring overseas graduates because it’s expensive. It’s expensive to sponsor someone.
So students are being squeezed from both sides. It costs you more to study, and it’s becoming harder to stay afterwards.
Is the UK becoming a temporary study destination rather than a long-term opportunity? Well, maybe?
The UK still offers world class universities and great qualifications, but the message is changing. [00:17:00] The UK wants you to study at its universities, but that doesn’t mean it wants you to live or work in the UK after university. The UK only wants you to stay if you are highly skilled and highly employable.
Global Perspective on Immigration Policies
At this point, I think it’s worth stepping back and considering whether these changes are fair.
Across the world, immigration systems are becoming more transactional. Migration is increasingly treated like an exchange. You bring skills and income and language ability and your labor, and in return, you are given permission to stay. If you stop meeting those conditions, your right to remain becomes uncertain.
I live in Japan, which is currently considering making major changes to some of its visas. They have made it much more difficult to get a business manager visa. They are considering Japanese language requirements for [00:18:00] permanent residents. They are considering putting limits on certain visa categories to limit the number of people allowed those visas. And they are going to increase the price of visas.
Several EU countries are also pushing for harder immigration requirements and better border controls. The UK actually borrowed a lot of these policies from Denmark, which is considered one of the toughest EU countries to move to.
Similar to the UK, Canada and Australia are also implementing tighter visa policies, specifically for international students. Canada and Australia were famous for being places where you could go to study at university and then relatively easily work there. Now maybe that’s not always the case.
And I’m sure you have all seen what’s happening in the US right now on the news, so I won’t talk too much about Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
From one perspective, the [00:19:00] fact these countries are changing their immigration policies makes sense. Governments want immigration systems that support the economy, protect public services, and do what the people want, what the voters want. Prioritizing skills and employment is practical and measurable, but this approach also creates tension.
Under the new UK plans, for example, refugees might face a longer path to permanent settlement even though they didn’t always choose to migrate for economic reasons. Maybe they fled from persecution or danger.
Or foreign spouses of UK citizens may need to prove that they have individually earned enough money to pay UK income tax for five years. Many spouses work part-time or are stay at home parents.
When I first moved to Japan to live with my wife I didn’t work really for the first three months because I was setting everything up, [00:20:00] getting my visa correct, getting my bank account set up.
Applying the same “earned settlement” logic to immigrants like spouses can raise some difficult questions, I think.
Final Thought
If you are listening to this and thinking about moving to the UK or any country with tightening immigration rules, what should you actually do? Should you give up?
No, you shouldn’t.
First, you need to plan early. Immigration systems are changing quickly and they are sometimes changing with little warning. The earlier you start researching visas and requirements and timelines, the more options you will have.
Second, don’t aim for the minimum. What I mean is… don’t aim for the minimum income requirement for a visa or the minimum English language requirement for a [00:21:00] visa. If a government plans to change something, it’s likely they’re going to make it more difficult. So having a higher salary or a higher English ability gives you more flexibility.
Third, make sure you understand the long-term settlement pathways, not just your first visa. Many people focus on getting into a country, but the challenge is staying. Look closely at how long settlement takes, what conditions apply, and what could affect your immigration status.
I’ve seen this a lot with my friends and with myself personally. I was in Tokyo four years ago on a student visa. I was a research student at a university and my visa was ending. Thinking in English was really at the early stages, and I couldn’t stay in Japan. Because there was no way to move from a student visa to a self-employed visa. That doesn’t exist in Japan. So I had to leave and [00:22:00] I came back a few months later married.
I have friends who’ve done something similar. Studied abroad, and then they have to leave there’s no route from student to worker perhaps. Or people who have done a short term tourist visa with the hope of living or working somewhere, and they realize working on a tourist visa is almost always illegal, and if you get caught, you will never be able to live in that country again.
You also should never assume that the rules you see today will still be the same rules tomorrow. Immigration policy is political and governments adjust their systems in response to public pressure and elections and economic conditions.
In January, Donald Trump banned 75 countries from applying for visas to the USA. These were not just the typical countries you might expect Trump to ban. They also included places that were maybe his rivals, places like Brazil, or I think Uruguay was on that list as [00:23:00] well. You can’t assume what you see today will still be in place tomorrow.
Moving internationally is still possible. Thousands of people, millions of people do it every year, but you need to be aware of the changes in the immigration systems.
If you are proficient in the language of the country you want to move to and you have skills or abilities that the country needs or wants, then you have an amazing chance at moving. You have a great chance.
If you are a highly skilled person in your industry. If you have experience, if you are respected in your industry, if you have connections, if you can prove that you will be beneficial to a country, then yes, people will hire you.
There are jobs out there. There are jobs hiring internationally all the time. I have friends living in countries across the world, but you need to have those skills.
It’s no longer just enough to think, “oh, I want to move to the UK“. You have to think, “what are you [00:24:00] going to contribute?” “How are you going to convince someone to hire you after you graduate from a degree?”
But what do you think? Are you living abroad? Do you want to live abroad? How about your country? Is your country accepting immigrants or not really wanting immigrants right now?
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