Britain to follow Australia’s immigration example

Next year, Britain will adopt an Australian-style model for restricting immigration to those with skills in need, including a points-based system to attract migrants with in-demand skills and reject those who would compete with local workers for unskilled jobs, says the Sydney Morning Herald.

Under the system:

Would-be migrants would need to amass a certain number of points according to their skills and sector gaps in the UK.

It was first announced last year and will replace more than 80 routes of entry to the UK with five tiers for workers with different skill levels.

The first tier, for highly-skilled migrants such as scientists and entrepreneurs, will be launched at the beginning of next year.

It will be followed later in 2008 by new tiers for skilled workers such as nurses, teachers and engineers with job offers, temporary workers and young people on working holidays.

A further tier for students will begin at the start of 2009.

The announcement comes ahead of Thursday's publication of official statistics which the newspaper predicted would show net migration into Britain of 185,000 in 2005. The figure is down from the previous year's 222,600, but four times the level in 1997.

British Immigration Minister Liam Byrne warned uncontrolled migration could damage the poorest communities. He said while migration had made the UK richer, it had also "unsettled the country."

Source: Britain to follow Australia's immigration example, Sydney Morning Herald, April 19, 2007.

For text: http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/britain-to-follow-australias-immigration-example/2007/04/19/1176696947542.html

For more on Immigration Issues: http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=34

FMF Policy Bulletin/ 24 April 2007