Take back control of our borders: it was the Leave campaign's most powerful promise. Ten years later, British migration policy has changed radically, but in a direction few had foreseen. Europeans have become a minority among new arrivals, while for a few years overall immigration reached unprecedented levels.
The end of free movement
Until 31 December 2020 any EU citizen could move to the UK to work, study or look for a job without asking permission. Since 1 January 2021 Europeans have been treated like all other foreigners: stays of more than six months require a visa, with requirements on language, job offer and salary thresholds, plus an annual payment towards the health service, the Immigration Health Surcharge, which for workers is £1,035 a year.
The rights of those already here
Europeans living in the country before the end of 2020 were able to stay thanks to the EU Settlement Scheme, the online procedure created to register them. Applications exceeded every forecast: by June 2026 almost 9 million had been made (including repeat applications) and about 5.8 million people had been granted a status, 4.6 million permanent (settled) and 1.25 million provisional (pre-settled). Among them are hundreds of thousands of Italians, one of the largest European communities alongside Romanians, Poles and Portuguese. Those with status keep the right to work, study, use healthcare and claim benefits, and after five years can apply for British citizenship.
The points-based system
The new system, inspired by Australia's, awards points for a job offer, skills, salary and English. The main visa is the Skilled Worker route: since July 2025 it requires a job at least at graduate level and a minimum salary of £41,700 a year (with lower thresholds for some occupations and for young people). There are also visas for students, for graduates who want to stay on and work, for exceptional talent and for health and care staff. The overseas care worker visa, which attracted hundreds of thousands of people between 2022 and 2024, was closed to new applicants in July 2025.
The paradox of the numbers
Under free movement net migration was around 200,000-300,000 people a year, largely Europeans. After Brexit Europeans stopped coming, and since 2022 more have left than arrived. But the post-pandemic reopening, staff shortages in health and care, the boom in international students and humanitarian schemes for Ukrainians and Hong Kong citizens sent arrivals from outside Europe soaring. Net migration hit a record 944,000 in the year to March 2023. Subsequent restrictions (a ban on students bringing dependants, higher salary thresholds, closure of the care visa) brought it down to 171,000 in 2025, according to ONS estimates.
Who arrives today
The leading nationalities among new arrivals are now India, Nigeria, Pakistan and China, and the main reasons are study and skilled work, especially in healthcare. The National Health Service depends increasingly on nurses and doctors trained abroad. Migration remains one of voters' top concerns and has fuelled the rise of Reform UK, Nigel Farage's party, while small-boat crossings of the Channel have become a political issue in their own right, handled partly in cooperation with France and the EU.
What it means for Europeans
For anyone wanting to move today, the route is the same as for any non-European citizen: a job offer from a licensed employer, a visa and the health surcharge. For young people the hope lies in the mobility scheme under discussion between London and Brussels, which would allow them to live and work in the country for a limited period. All the practical details in studying and working after Brexit, moving to the UK and Italians in the UK. Back to the Brexit special.