Tougher times are here for would-be Nigerian immigrants as the United Kingdom has concluded plans to temporarily limit the number of non-European migrant workers into the United Kingdom.
This plan is coming at the heels of a permanent cap which is to take effect from April 2011. The Home Secretary, Theresa May, made this known as she stated that the number of workers would be limited to 24, 100-down around 5%- between now and April 2011. While this may be part of moves to build the economic stay of the United Kingdom, the effects that this plan would have on Nigerians and other non-EU migrants are rather going to be enormous. For instance, many Nigerians who are presently nursing the idea of travelling to the United Kingdom in search of greener pastures are sure to meet stiffer conditions of entry, since the requirement would be purely based on skilled labour..
Ms May, who is expected to announce the move tomorrow, is equally ready to launch a consultation process for deciding the level of the permanent cap. According to the latest immigration figures for the year 2008, about 258,000 EU and returning British came to the UK out of a total of 538,000 immigrants. It is noteworthy that many Nigerians engage in odd jobs in the UK which of course do not constitute the skilled labour being presently sought by the UK government.
While the measures appear a bit tighter, the UK government has insisted that it is a welcomed but painful development for those that would be affected. According to Alp Mehmet of the MigrationWatchUk: "The introduction of a temporary limit was a welcome sign that the government is starting as it means to continue. We need to carefully consider how net immigration will be brought down to tens of thousands-we believe about 40,000 is a realistic target-rather than the hundreds of thousands of the last 10 years, and is therefore good news for all our people, including immigrants and future immigrants. Immigration at the levels of the past decade is in no one's interest."
The demand for highly skilled labour would invariably take its toll on non-EU students, including Nigerian students in that category who engage in after-school jobs to finance their educational undertaking. This would mean that Nigerians seeking admission into higher institutions in the United Kingdom, with the intention of schooling and working, would be unable to do this as skills will be the hallmark for employment.
Also, plans are in top gear to introduce measures requiring that immigrants who intend to marry UK citizens must possess a good command of the English Language. Before now, many Nigerians have travelled to the UK on the pretext of contracting marriage with both UK citizens and long term residents who have gained a permanent stay on the European soil..
