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BVU

BVU Statement on Government proposals relating to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) for migrant workers

You can read Unite’s submission to the Home Affairs Select Committee, which the BVU fully supports and endorses, here.

Unite, and the BVU, firmly oppose proposals to extend, restrict, or tie “earned” pathways to ILR, especially if applied retrospectively to migrants to entered since 2021, and without transitional arrangements.

We believe that the proposed process changes will particularly affect the UK veterinary sector, which has already lost a proportion of workers to Brexit, and where migrant Veterinary Surgeons already share with the union that they feel increasingly unwelcome, and unsupported.

International evidence already demonstrates that longer, conditional routes increase the risk of labour exploitation, hinder integration, destabilise migrant households, and place disproportionate burdens on vulnerable workers.

Any settlement system should not be dependent on the worker’s employer, which is particularly relevant in the veterinary sector where workers report feeling stuck in exploitative workplaces due to visa constraints.

The BVU supports all of Unite’s calls to the Home Affairs Select Committee, listed below:

  1. That any ILR path must disconnect from employer sponsorship, migrant workers must be free to change roles without jeopardising their status.
  2. Prohibit the retrospective application of stricter ILR rules.
  3. Immediate, unconditional routes to permanent status for verified victims of trafficking, forced labour, or exploitation.
  4. Align immigration policy with anti-exploitation objectives, ensuring secure status for vulnerable workers and call for safe, anonymous reporting mechanisms to be guaranteed, with a separation (“firewall”) between labour enforcement and immigration enforcement.
  5. Exemptions from “earned settlement” criteria must include survivors of abuse.
  6. Enforcement must be strengthened, and “rogue” employers must provide compensation to their victims, and there must be free legal representation for exploited workers to access legal representation in immigration and employment law procedures.
  7. Recognise a broad definition of contribution, including social and care contributions.
  8. Carry out a comprehensive equality impact assessment before introducing any “earned settlement” measures.