The British Embassy in Manila announced that starting April of next year, there will be a limit on the number of foreign workers that they will allow to enter their territory. This rule also applies to Filipino workers.

The government of United Kingdom (UK) said in a statement that the number of skilled and highly skilled foreign workers that they will hire is limited to 21,700 per year. Of the said figure, 20,700 is allotted for the skilled workers while the   remaining 1,000 is for highly skilled.

According to the Embassy, the yearly limit is needed so that UK can effectively compete in the international labor market and to make sure that the migrant labor will not take away opportunities for British citizens that are also in need of work.

In the Embassy statement, the UK Home Secretary, Theresa May said, “The announcement has set out a clear, rational approach to which workers we will allow into the UK job market. We have set out an approach which will not only get immigration down to sustainable levels but at the same time, protects those businesses and institutions which are vital to our economy."

May also mentioned that aside from the annual limit, the UK Home Office will also set a limit to the intra-company transfer route. The have set a stricter requirements for Tier One—the ‘highly skilled’ tier—of the Points Based System (PBS) but excluding  entrepreneurs, investors and people of exceptional talent.

Firms can opt to bring their own employees to UK by using the intra-company transfer route. It is a requirement though that the annual income of the worker is more than £40,000, the work contracts is more than 1 year and will stay for not more than five years.

The government of UK felt the need to change the rules for admission of Tier One category workers upon learning that majority of workers that enters UK via Tier One gets employed in low-skilled jobs when they arrived in UK.

UK employers said that Tier 2 or skilled workers will be prioritized when they hire workers. The applicants for this category must be a college graduate and sponsored by an employer. Their points will be based on the need for their skills and salary.

Tier-2 applicants though need to compete with others to be given an entry visa to UK. Once the limit is reached, the applicants with higher points will qualify for one of the certificates of sponsorship available each month.

May said, “We will take action on all routes into the UK and these changes are crucial if we are to limit the numbers coming here to work, while still attracting the brightest and the best to the UK."

She added, “We have worked closely with businesses while designing this system, and listened to their feedback, but we have also made clear that as the recovery continues, we need employers to look first to people who are out of work and who are already in this country."