Boris Johnson is planning to implement Australian style immigration system

There have been talks and promises for many years already about introducing a points-based immigration system similar to the one in Australia. The UK has its own PBS system, but it is not as extensive as the Australian one.

What is Australian PBS system?

In a few words, the Australian government only gives visas to those who would benefit the economy and fill labour shortages. They designed a system that uses different criteria to assess people, such as age, qualifications and language skills. The younger, the more qualified and the more fluent you are in English, the higher are your chances in scoring the required 60 points.

For example, all applicants must be younger than 50; at the same time a 49-year-old does not get points under this category while a 31-year-old will get 30 points automatically. PhD applicants get extra 20 points, and longer employment history provides more points as well.

What does Boris Johnson want for the UK?

The new prime minister has always been up for having people come to the UK, but his only concern is the quality of migration. That´s why he is keen on changing the immigration rules. He will ask the Migration Advisory Committee to prepare a review report on the Australian PBS system in order to use it as a base for rewriting the UK system.

Yes, he is accused of not targeting a reduction in net migration, which Tories has been pledging, but he refuses to play “numbers games”. For Mr Johnson it’s all about “taking back full control of our borders” and attracting crème de la crème to the UK. But if we think about it, the reduction in net migration should be achieved indirectly through a new policy. More stringent requirements will automatically lead to a smaller number of migrants allowed into the UK.