General election: The parties' immigration policies explained
Immigration has become a major issue ahead of the general election on 4 July for both the Conservatives and Labour.
Tuesday 18 June 2024 14:54, UK
Immigration is one of the key battlegrounds of the 2024 general election for all the parties.
A poll carried out for YouGov by Sky News found more people (43%) in the UK thought that immigration has a negative impact on British society compared to a positive one (35%).
It has become one of the main issues of the campaign and not just for the Conservatives, as it would be traditionally, but also for Labour.
Both parties promising to cut net migration levels - the number of people coming from overseas minus the number leaving.
Sky News looks at their immigration policies - and those from the other main parties.
Illegal immigration
Small boats
Both the Tories and Labour have vowed to "stop the boats", in reference to the vessels, such as RIBS and dinghies, that cross the English Channel with people aiming to gain entry to the UK without a visa.
More than 11,000 migrants have arrived in the UK so far this year after crossing the Channel.
As of 7 June, the total of 11,095 was up 46% on the number recorded at the same time last year (7,610) and 11% higher than the same point in 2022 (9,984).
Conservatives
The Conservatives have increased cooperation with France, with the aim of intercepting small boats in the Channel before they reach UK waters.
It signed an agreement with the EU to tackle smuggler gangs, and signed agreements with different countries to increase removals and act as a deterrent.
The Conservatives have said the Rwanda policy would act as a major deterrent to asylum seekers coming to the UK in the first place.
They also say they would sign more returns deals and work with other countries to "rewrite asylum treaties to make them fit for the challenges we face".
Labour
Labour say they want to spend the money currently being spent on the Rwanda scheme on enforcement activity instead.
One of the first policies it announced during this election campaign was to establish a new Border Security Command to prosecute gangs operating small boat routes.
Third on the party's list of "first steps for change" if elected is to launch the unit with "hundreds of new specialist investigators", vowing to "use counter-terror powers to smash criminal boat gangs" in a bid to curb Channel crossings.
They would also increase security cooperation with the EU and give police more powers to search suspected people smugglers and monitor their financial accounts.
The party said it wants to negotiate a deal with the EU to return asylum seekers to EU countries.
Rwanda
This is where the Conservatives and Labour differ the most on immigration.
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Conservatives
The Conservatives have said its Rwanda policy, which has so far cost £310m, will deter people from coming to the UK by small boat to claim asylum.
In April, the controversial Safety of Rwanda bill became law so those who arrive in the UK illegally from a safe country will be sent to the African nation where they can apply for asylum.
If successful, they could be granted refugee status and be allowed to stay in Rwanda, and if not they could apply to settle in Rwanda on other grounds or seek asylum in another safe third country.
But no asylum seeker would be able to apply to return to the UK.
No flights have yet to take off but the Tory manifesto promises they will get off the ground in July if they win the election.
Rishi Sunak has not said how many asylum seekers would be deported under the scheme, which has stalled for more than two years amid legal challenges.
The manifesto stops short of saying the UK could leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) despite calls from some on the right of the party, including former home secretary Suella Braverman.
Labour
Labour's manifesto promises to scrap the Rwanda plan, meaning no flights would take off if they won the election.
Shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has not ruled out processing asylum seekers in other countries and Sir Keir said last year he would look at an offshore scheme where migrants are processed in a third country "usually en route to their country of destination".
The party has stated its commitment to international legal conventions, with its manifesto saying: "Britain will unequivocally remain a member of the ECHR."
But questions remain over whether Labour will revert to allowing migrants who continue to arrive in the country after crossing the Channel to claim asylum, if elected.
Asylum backlog
There is a large backlog of unprocessed asylum claims that built up between 2018 and 2022, but that did start to fall in 2023.
A total of 118,329 people were waiting for an initial decision on a UK asylum application at the end of March, Home Office figures show.
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Conservatives
The Conservatives increased the number of caseworkers in the Home Office and introduced processes to streamline processing claims.
They placed asylum seekers on a large barge to stop the sizeable hotel bills building up by housing them there.
The Rwanda policy is aimed at clearing that backlog and ensuring it does not grow.
Mr Sunak has promised to clear the asylum backlog, with "all claims processed in six months", and end the use of hotels to house migrants awaiting a decision, if re-elected.
Labour
The Labour Party says it would hire 1,000 more caseworkers to create a "Returns and Enforcement Unit" to address the 40% fall in asylum removals since 2010.
Their manifesto promises the unit will "fast-track removals to safe countries for people who do not have the right to stay here" and pledges to "negotiate additional returns arrangements".
Labour say they would employ civil servants in the UK and abroad, with overseas officials negotiating returns agreements, with the plans financed by savings made by clearing the backlog and ending the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.
Legal immigration
Work migration
The Skilled Worker visa is the largest work migration route in the UK, with people having to be sponsored for a job and meet certain skill and salary requirements.
Conservatives
The rules for who qualifies for the Skilled Worker visa changed in April, with the minimum salary threshold rising substantially to £38,700 or the going rate for that role - whichever is higher.
Social care workers are also no longer allowed to bring dependants on their visa.
A list of jobs for which someone can be sponsored with a reduced minimum salary has been made shorter, and the minimum income to sponsor someone for a spouse/partner visa has risen from £18,600 to £29,000.
Mr Sunak has vowed to "halve migration" and then reduce the number "every single year" if the Conservatives are re-elected, although the Tory manifesto doesn't detail how the promise would be reached and when, or a target figure.
The Tories have also promised to introduce a cap on legal migration, allowing MPs to vote in Parliament on "how many people should be able to come here every year" and said they would restrict visa access from countries that "don't work with us on our national priorities, like illegal migration".
Other measures aimed at curbing legal migration include requiring migrants to have a health check before coming to the UK - with the prospect of paying a higher rate of the immigration health surcharge or forcing them to buy insurance if they are "likely to be a burden on the NHS".
Labour
Sir Keir Starmer announced on 2 June a plan to bring down net migration by training more UK workers and protect working conditions.
He said he would pass laws to ban employers who are reliant on recruiting skilled workers from overseas as a default from doing so.
Labour would also bring in laws to train more UK workers so companies would not have to hire from overseas.
The party has said it has "no plans" to change the ban on health and care workers bringing their families to the UK.
Labour's manifesto also vows to "reduce net migration" but stops short of setting a target.
Student migration
International students and their families contributed to the largest increase in net migration since 2019.
After graduating, international students can live and work in the UK for two years, or three if they are a PhD graduate, by switching to a Graduate Visa.
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Conservatives
In January 2024, the government banned most students, apart from postgraduate research courses, from bringing their family members with them to the UK.
A review of the Graduate Visa scheme, which allows overseas students to stay in the UK for up to three years after completing a degree, found it should remain as it is key to funding British universities.
The government has not changed the rules since the review was published in May.
Mr Sunak says his party would increase visa fees and remove the student discount for the immigration health surcharge, which is currently at £1,035 a year, but students get pay £776.
Labour
The shadow home secretary has said Labour would retain the ban on family members.
It has not commented on the Graduate Visa review.
What do the other parties say on immigration?
Liberal Democrats
The Lib Dems have accused the Conservatives of breaking the immigration system, and want to invest in officers, training and technology to tackle smuggling, trafficking and modern slavery.
They say they would scrap the Rwanda plan and have promised to introduce a humanitarian travel permit to end Channel crossings, so asylum seekers would have a safe and legal way of travelling to the UK to make their claim.
The party wants to end the detention of children and set a 28-day time limit for holding adults in removal centres.
Manifesto pledges include processing all but the most complex asylum claims within three months and lifting a ban on asylum seekers working if they have been waiting for a decision for longer.
NHS and care staff would be exempt from the £1,000 annual immigration skills charge and the power to grant work and student visas would be given to departments other than the Home Office.
They would reform "arbitrary" salary thresholds, reverse the ban on care workers bringing their family with them and grant full settled status to all EU citizens in the UK with pre-settled status.
Reform UK
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Nigel Farage put immigration front and centre of his party's offer to voters, with two of its five core pledges focusing on the issue.
Reform's plans include leaving the ECHR, allowing zero illegal immigrants to settle in the UK, returning migrants who arrive in small boats to France, and processing asylum seekers from safe countries offshore.
They also say they would set up a new "Department of Immigration" and impose a "freeze" on non-essential immigration "to protect our culture and identity".
Under the party's plans, immigrants who commit crimes would have their UK citizenship withdrawn, with the exception of "some misdemeanour offences", while people would need five years of residency before claiming benefits.
The party is also proposing to ban international students from bringing dependents to the UK, with only those graduates with essential skills allowed to stay in the country, and national insurance would be raised to 20% for "foreign workers".
SNP
The SNP called Labour's plans to cut net migration "cruel" and said neither a Labour or Tory government would put Scotland first and are blaming migrants "for all our problems" instead of Westminster.
They have called for a "fair and human asylum and refugee system where people have the right to work and to contribute to society".
The Green Party
The Greens want "a world without borders" and believe migration is "not a criminal offence under any circumstances".
Their manifesto pledges include ending immigration detention and allowing asylum seekers to work while their applications are being processed.
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They want to replace the Home Office with a Department of Migration and end the minimum income requirement for work visa spouses.
Plaid Cymru
Plaid also opposes the Rwanda scheme but say asylum seekers should be processed in a third country.
They want to see the responsibility for asylum seekers to be proportionate across the UK.