5 November 2010 Last updated at 12:33 ET Share this pageFacebookTwitter ShareEmail Print

Theresa May pledges immigration abuse crackdown

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Theresa May: "The points based system alone is not sufficient"
The Home Secretary, Theresa May, has pledged to crack down on immigration abuse in order to restore public confidence in the system.

In her first major speech on immigration policy, she said the number of non-EU migrants had to be reduced to "sustainable levels".

Between 1997 and 2009, net migration was 2.2 million people - more than twice the population of Birmingham.

A new English language test to combat sham marriages is to be introduced.

Net migration - the difference between the number of people coming to live in the UK and the number emigrating - stood at 196,000 last year.

The coalition government has promised at least to halve this figure by 2015.

This is to be achieved partly with a cap on the number of skilled workers from outside the European Economic Area.

In June, the Home Office introduced a temporary limit of 24,100 work visas for non-EU citizens.

Permanent measures will be brought in from April 2011 but the final decision on the figure is not expected until next month.

Fake documents

Mrs May said public confidence had been undermined by individual stories of the immigration system being abused. She cited the example of a couple who made £600,000 providing fake documents, qualifications and certificates to support applications.

"We must take steps to crack down on this sort of abuse, in order to restore confidence in a well-managed system that can bring substantial benefits," she said.

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