Debate grows on visa limits for migrants

Britain is grappling with new rules to limit migrants amid a dispute over whether new workers help or hurt the nation’s economy.

The House of Lords sparked debate with a report earlier this month concluding that the beneficial economic impact of immigration is overstated.

“Looking to the future, if you have got that increase in numbers and you haven’t got any economic benefit from it, you have got to ask yourself: ’Is this a wise thing to do?’ ” said John Wakeham, chairman of the Lords’ committee responsible for the report, according to the Associated Press.

In 2004, the European Union admitted 10 new nations, all but one (Cyprus) from the former Soviet bloc or the former Soviet Union itself.

Britain, being among the few Western European countries that lifted working-visa restrictions for the new member states, is now tightening entrance rules, especially for unskilled job seekers. Its concern also applies to immigrants from non-EU states.

About 60 percent of the immigrant workers in Britain are from Poland, with the “Polish plumber” having become a stereotype for people on both sides of the immigration debate.

In recent months, the government has been preparing a point system to measure skills of the applicants for work visas and the need for their particular skills in Britain.

“What that effectively will mean is not just a cap on unskilled entrants into the United Kingdom, but there will be no people coming into the United Kingdom who are unskilled from outside the EU,” Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters.

On the other side of the debate, the Home Office reports that immigrants have contributed significantly to Britain’s economic growth.

In 2006, for example, the Home Office reported a net gain of $12 billion in Britain’s gross domestic product from the influx of new workers.

“I think most people in the City of London know that we have benefited very substantially, not just from the inward investment that is coming from international companies, but the number of key workers who have come into join them and to make a huge contribution to the British economy,” Mr. Brown said.

“But we want to get the balance right between that and, of course, being sensible about the pressures on our economy and that is why the new points system, which we are the first government to introduce, means that there will be no unskilled entry into this country,” he said.