UK Work Visa: Kemi Badenoch Discloses What Should Happen to Immigrants on Temporary Work Visas
- Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch wrote to the UK Home Secretary warning against softening planned immigration reforms for work visa holders
- Badenoch and Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp argued that exempting around 2 million migrants from the extended qualifying period would be a grave mistake
- The Conservative leader offered to back Labour's original immigration proposals in Parliament if the government proceeds without amendments
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the UK Conservative Party, has called on the Labour government to hold firm on its proposal to extend the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain from five years to 10 years, warning that any retreat on the policy would have serious consequences for Britain's immigration controls.
Badenoch shared the letter on her X account on Monday, July 13, directing it at the Home Secretary and co-signing it alongside Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp.
Source: Facebook
The intervention came in direct response to reports that some Labour MPs were pushing the government to exclude approximately two million migrants who entered the United Kingdom on work visas between 2021 and now from the stricter qualifying requirements.
"People who come to Britain on temporary work visas should not automatically be able to stay forever. This Labour government was right to make that harder. Now their MPs want them to u-turn. Conservatives will back Labour's original plan to help get it through Parliament," Badenoch wrote in her post.
Why Badenoch opposes the exemption
In the letter, Badenoch described the proposed exemption as "a grave mistake," pointing to the previous Conservative government's own experience as a cautionary lesson.
She argued that a five-year pathway to indefinite leave to remain proved too short and placed avoidable strain on public services.
Her letter noted that once indefinite leave to remain is granted, recipients become fully entitled to welfare benefits and can apply for British citizenship within a year, making it extremely difficult for the government to impose further restrictions at that point.
She further contended that many migrants currently on temporary work visas occupy roles that could be filled by economically inactive British citizens, of whom she cited approximately nine million.
According to Badenoch, those who do not make what she described as a meaningful economic contribution over a decade should be required to leave when their visas expire rather than be offered a route to permanent settlement, Punch reported.
Badenoch also rejected the suggestion that changing the qualifying rules for people already in the country would constitute a retrospective measure.
Her position was that temporary work visas carry no inherent promise of permanent residence, and that the government retains the authority to revise settlement criteria at any point.
Conservatives offer to back Labour's original plan
The letter included a direct offer of cross-party support, stating that if Labour tables its original proposals from the previous autumn in their unaltered form, whether through immigration rules or as part of the Immigration and Asylum Bill, the Conservatives would vote in favour. Badenoch framed the government's response as a test of its genuine commitment to reducing net migration.
"Whether or not you stand by your own proposals is a test of whether the Labour Party is serious about controlling our borders or not," the letter concluded.
The letter was also copied to Andy Burnham, whom Badenoch identified as the expected incoming Prime Minister, as debate over the direction of UK immigration policy intensifies.
Kemi Badenoch disassociates self from Nigeria
Previously, Legit.ng reported that Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, said she no longer identifies as a Nigerian.
The Tory leader, who grew up in Lagos state, southwest Nigeria, said that she had not had a Nigerian passport for two decades.
Source: Legit.ng
