We updated our briefing on this suddenly topical subject just before Christmas

The Migration Advisory Committee has recommended that the government reduce occupation-specific thresholds for Skilled Workers. Here's why, in 3 posts...

Hundreds of foreign prison staff 'offered emergency extension to visa' to stop the prison system collapsing

Recent updates to UK migration estimates https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10446/

New government strategy on tackling violence against women and girls www.gov.uk/government/p...

An update to our briefing on citizenship deprivation will be published shortly. The number of people losing British citizenship after obtaining it by fraud is at record levels (as below), but for national security reasons at rock bottom (only one case last year)

The social care dilemma www.ft.com/content/604a...

People on work visas are good for the public finances on average, whereas people on family visas aren't, Migration Advisory Committee analysis finds (confirming what one might expect) www.gov.uk/government/p...

The Migration Advisory Committee has released its 2025 annual report. The report looks at the impact of migration on the UK's public finances, Overseas Domestic Workers, and migrants' English language abilities. Here are three things they found 👇

"Brexit has made us a court of appeal for failed asylum seekers in the EU", former government migration adviser Alan Manning tells a House of Lords committee committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence...

"If we're trying to reduce the rate of growth of our population, we need to look at the areas that we can control, and one of them I would have thought is student permissions", Ireland's immigration minister says shows.acast.com/inside-polit...

"In an interview with The Telegraph before tougher restrictions on rapists and domestic abusers are unveiled this week, Ms Mahmood said: 'For too long, the human rights of foreign sex offenders have been prioritised over the safety of British women and girls'" www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12...

"It is a universal truth that nothing panics a public more than people arriving on boats", says Canadian migration expert Randall Hansen committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence...

In case you missed it: Briefing: the implications of the “earned settlement” proposals and what they might mean in practice | Alex Piletska

Optimism is currently unfashionable. The newly published Community Life Survey asks, "do you agree or disagree that this local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together?" I wondered if we might see a sharp decline this year; it has gone down 1%, to 80% agreement.

40k small boat crossings so far this year is - second highest on record - less than half of asylum claims* - about 5% of immigration* *July '24 - June '25, latest figs More on BBC's migration tracker: bit.ly/4rVv595

In 2024, one person was stripped of their British citizenship for reasons other than acquiring it by fraud, new government data shows: www.gov.uk/government/p.... This continues a huge decline in such cases since 2017, when there were over 100.

Parliament has now approved a 32% increase in the immigration skills charge (a tax on work visa sponsorship), to £1,320 a year for large businesses, paving the way for it to come into force tomorrow.

Small boat crossings resume after longest pause in migrants arriving for seven years www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

New data shows a sharp decline in family visas following the September restriction on refugee family reunion.

Estimated contribution to public finances of people granted Skilled Worker or Health and Care visas in 2022/23, and their 'dependant' partners/children, from a new Migration Advisory Committee analysis www.gov.uk/government/p...

Analytical rigour in Article 8 immigration appeals administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/12/10/a...

The border inspector’s 2022 description of Home Office data as “inexcusably awful” remains undefeated

Interesting NAO analysis of 5,000 asylum claims lodged in Jan 2023. Almost three years on, over half are still in the system (appealing, or refused asylum but still in the UK), compared to 44% who have either been granted asylum or sent home. nao-mesh.shinyapps.io/Asylum_Syste...

Short-term fixes in the asylum system have shifted pressures - creating new backlogs, wasting public funds and harming life chances. We’ve mapped the asylum system to show where delays occur, and set out 4 requirements for an effective system. Report: www.nao.org.uk/reports/an-a...

Kirsty Hughes: The Implications of the Court of Appeal’s Judgment on ‘Family Life’ for the Government’s Immigration Proposals ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/12/10/k...

What's going on in Strasbourg today - and how is it relevant to the case for continued UK membership of the European Convention on Human Rights? Updated text of my lecture this week in Stormont is here: www.daqc.co.uk/2025/12/10/t...

The Commons Library is recruiting a housing policy researcher! As ever: highly recommended workplace, great people, interesting work, etc etc. Apply! housesofparliament.tal.net/vx/mobile-0/...

New episode of the TDTM podcast just dropped, featuring migration statistics oracle and all-round inspiration Madeleine Sumption from Oxford's @migobs.bsky.social 🔊 Listen to the full episode now on Spotify ⬇️ or Apple Podcasts open.spotify.com/episode/2Buv...

"Today’s agreement will make it possible for both the European Union and one or more member states to make an arrangement or agreement with a third country on return hubs" www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/pre...

The Home Office consultation says its proposal for tougher English language tests is not up for discussion, but the department also won’t confirm (below) whether they will definitely apply to Hongkongers until the consultation has finished.

Interesting exercise, suggesting that emigration of British citizens from the UK hasn’t increased.

UK universities restricting recruitment of Bangladeshi and Pakistani students in order to meet new Home Office requirements on visa refusals and asylum claims by students giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

"We need to come to terms with the fact that for many years everybody thought the channel was a big barrier to getting to the UK. Now, everybody realises that it is not, and that genie is not going back in the bottle" committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence...

The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act has been given Royal Assent - www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/3... Which means that the Safety of Rwanda Act has been repealed, as have the elements of the Illegal Migration Act that effectively banned asylum claims being processed

“French security forces will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've picked up their passengers, the maritime police force has confirmed to the BBC” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Net migration (immigration minus emigration) down to about 200,000 in the 12 months to June 2025, latest provisional estimates suggest: www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula.... The exact numbers are invariably wrong, but at least illustrate the general trend.

While I was offline I reviewed Baroness Hale of Richmond's newest book. It's actually very good! I'm going soft. Free link here @ www.thetimes.com/article/6dd6...

International student levy on British universities confirmed in Budget 2025 documents www.gov.uk/government/p...

60,000 responses so far to the public consultation on changes to permanent residence rules, minister reports hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2025...

I'm thrilled to announce that Talk Data to Me now has a podcast. My first guest is Jonathan Portes, Professor of Economics at Kings, who talked to me about recent problems with UK economic data & budget challenges for the Chancellor. Available to listen now 🔊 open.spotify.com/episode/6Txz...

The grace period for letting people travel to the UK without an electronic travel authorisation - never really advertised in writing - ends on 25 February 2026, Home Office announces www.gov.uk/government/n...

"Of the United Kingdom’s 100 fastest-growing companies, 54 have a foreign-born founder or co-founder" www.tenentrepreneurs.org/job-creators...

Quite the correction by the Telegraph. The publication in question is @freemovement.bsky.social

The UK government's proposals on changes to settlement (indefinite leave to remain) rules have now been published in a consultation paper, ahead of a statement from the Home Secretary to MPs shortly www.gov.uk/government/c...

The title of the statement has been updated to A Fairer Pathway to Settlement - which makes more sense given what has been being briefed

Worth remembering given the proposed ILR changes are going to be announced today. A "consultation" by the Home Office is usually 'this is what we want to do, how can we implement it?' rather than 'these are the various options we are thinking about, which do you prefer and why?'.

Not many groups of migrants would be affected by a longer path to ILR if claiming benefits, since you normally can’t claim benefits unless you have ILR. Refugees and other humanitarian cases, primarily, assuming EU citizens covered by Brexit rules are exempt. www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

NEW: French police will use nets to try to stop small boats crossing the Channel – despite warnings this could be deadly As UK pressure on France mounts, sources tell @lighthousereports.com and @lemonde.fr interceptions at sea will now take place, with nets www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees gave a speech in London on Monday night (I went along). Full text is now available. Interesting to see him seem to endorse the UK-France 'one in, one out' deal. www.unhcr.org/news/speeche...