New interim immigration cap on non-EEA workers in place from 19 July 2010

The coalition government recently announced that it would be introducing a “cap” on the number of workers entering the UK from outside of the European Economic Area (EEA). This follows the Conservative party’s campaign pledge to bring net migration – the flow of migrants into the UK minus the number leaving to live abroad – down from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands.The government has launched a consultation, closing on 17 September 2010, asking businesses how they think the cap should work. It has also asked the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to launch a separate consultation into the level at which the limit should be set from 1 April 2011, taking into account social and economic factors. MAC will report back to the government this September.