New Home Secretary brings bad news for expats seeking jobs in the UK

Boris Johnson’s new Home Secretary Priti Patel is planning to introduce a points-based immigration system.

The new system spells bad news for expats looking to move to the UK, unless they are able to fulfill the stringent requirements Patel believes are essential once Britain leaves the EU. Basically, the UK will only welcome skilled workers who are able to speak English, overturning decades of the UK’s relatively compassionate attitude to immigrants, especially those who’re experts in their fields. Top priority is to be given to applicants with the greatest talents and highest skills, although she didn’t touch on how many of the brightest and best would want to come to a UK economically decimated by a no-deal Brexit.

In addition, the new and somewhat inexperienced Home Secretary said even the best would only be allowed in if they already have a job offer from a Home Office-registered company and are fluent in the English language. However, experts are now heavily criticising her plans, with one saying if France and Spain took the same stance in retaliation, the vast majority of British expats working in those two EU member states might well be deported back to the UK. It remains to be seen how many other EU countries would follow suit.

A recent EU-based study undertaken for the European Day of Languages seems to dispel the legend that English is too hard to learn, as well as pointing out that UK citizens are the least likely to have learned another language well enough to be considered fluent. Almost two-thirds of EU member state citizens were able to converse in at least one foreign language, with only just over a third in the UK able to do so. According to the study, almost all Latvians, Danes, Swedes and Lithuanians are able to speak at least one foreign language, leaving the Brits out in the cold as regards linguistic ability.