These new immigration policies, which in the words of the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, are aimed at “ending Britain’s open borders experiment,” will stop the influx of “lower paid workers” from other countries, including Ghanaians, from entering the European country.
Prime Minister Starmer, in a post shared on X on May 13, 2025, said that the move will help in “fixing” the British immigration system and “restoring” control of the borders of the country.
These radical immigration reforms, which have been shared on the UK government website and by the Prime Minister on his X handle, include an increase in the skill required to travel to the UK and a ban on the issuance of social care visas.
The UK government has explained that “new requirements on employers to boost domestic training will end the reliance on international recruitment, restoring order to a failed system that saw net migration quadruple between 2019 and 2023.”
Below are details of the restrictive immigration policies Ghanaians living in the UK or planning to travel to the European country should know about:
1. Only Ghanaian graduates can travel to the UK:
One of the new regulations includes the “Lifting the level for skilled workers back to RQF 6 (Graduate level) and above.”
This requirement implies that Ghanaians who intend to travel to the UK must be at least university graduates.
The UK Prime Minister explained that this move will ensure that only people with the requisite skill can enter his country to help grow the economy.
“Our current system is not selective enough about who comes to the UK. We’re raising the skills threshold to degree-level to make sure we attract people who can grow our economy,” he wrote.
2. Any Ghanaian travelling to the UK must have a basic understanding of the English Language:
The UK government is also setting an English language requirement for all persons who want to travel to their country.
Under the new requirement, Ghanaians and other nationals who want to travel to the UK must have a basic understanding of English.
“We’re raising English language requirements across every main immigration route, ensuring those wishing to live and work here speak English.
“And for the first time, adult dependents on those routes will also be required to have a basic understanding of English,” the UK Prime Minister wrote on X.
3. Increase the time needed to gain British citizenship:
The new immigration policy also includes doubling the length of time needed for a foreign national to become a UK citizen from 5 to 10 years.
Keir Starmer said that the increase in the time for one to gain UK citizenship will be reduced for people who contribute to the growth of his country’s economy.
“We’re introducing a new contributions-based model to settlement and citizenship. Extending the length of time a person needs to live in the UK from five to 10 years, with reductions for those who contribute to the economy. Settlement in the UK is a privilege, not a right,” he said.
4. Ghanaians barred from UK social care visas:
The UK government will also be barring the recruitment of social care personnel from foreign countries.
This means that the opportunity for Ghanaians to work as social caregivers in the UK has been closed.
The government wrote on its website, “End overseas recruitment for social care visas. In line with our wider reforms to skills thresholds, we will close social care visas to new applications from abroad.”
It added, “For a transition period until 2028, while the workforce strategy is being developed and rolled out, we will permit visa extensions and in-country switching for those already here. This will be kept under review.”
The UK Prime Minister has also explained that although caregivers have contributed greatly to the UK economy, his country wants to reduce its dependency on them.
“We’re permanently shutting down the care visa route. Care workers from overseas have made a huge contribution, but too many have been subject to abuse and exploitation. We’re moving away from our dependence on overseas workers to restore control and fairness to the system,” he wrote on X.
Student visa restriction:
Ghanaians who wish to study in the UK will also be affected by the new restrictions.
The new immigration policies will reduce the period foreign graduates can stay in the UK to 18 months.
“We will introduce new interventions for sponsors who are close to failing their sponsor duties, including placing them on an action plan designed to improve their compliance, and imposing limits on the number of new international students they can recruit while they are subject to those plans.
“We will reduce the ability for graduates to remain in the UK after their studies to a period of 18 months,” the UK government said.
See more details of the restrictions below:
Read the details of new policies published on May 12, 2025 by gov.uk
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