UK unveils immigration overhaul for 2021 focused on skills

LONDON (AP) — Britain announced new post-Brexit immigration rules Tuesday that will make it tougher for European Union citizens, but easier for people from many other nations, to move to the U.K. starting next year.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative government said the new rules would “open up the U.K. to the brightest and the best from around the world” while ending “the reliance on cheap, low-skilled labor coming into the country.” But U.K. employers said the radical changes could bring about a labor crisis for sectors such as health and social care.

Britain’s exit from the EU last month after 47 years of membership is triggering the biggest change to the country’s immigration rules for decades.

During Britain’s EU membership — and until a post-Brexit transition period runs out on Dec. 31 — citizens of any of the EU's 27 nations can freely live and work in the U.K.

More than 3 million EU citizens currently living in the U.K. are entitled to stay. But from January 1, 2021, new immigration rules will apply to EU and non-EU citizens alike.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said Britain's new “points-based immigration system” would assess prospective immigrants on a range of skills, qualifications, salaries or professions.

People hoping to work in Britain will need a job offer paying at least 25,600 pounds ($33,000) a year. That’s less than the current 30,000 pounds ($39,000) set for non-EU immigrants, a figure that is more than the country's average annual wage. Prospective immigrants who earn lessmay be able to come if they have other skills.

Skilled immigrants are currently required to have a university degree but in future will only need the equivalent of Britain's pre-university “A levels.”

The government says the new rules will...