Javid sets out post-Brexit immigration rules in hotly anticipated white paper

Home secretary Sajid Javid has unveiled the government's post-Brexit immigration plans in a white paper this afternoon, with low-skilled workers no longer automatically receiving the right to work in the UK.

Javid had said earlier in the day that the plans wouldn't include a specific target to reduce annual net migration to the UK, however Prime Minister Theresa May later said the government would be sticking to its manifesto commitment of reducing immigration to the tens of thousands.

The target remains undetermined in the new exit proposals, revealed in the much-delayed white paper that was initially promised to MPs last year.

Javid told the BBC this morning that the government remained committed to "bringing net migration to sustainable levels".

He added that there was "no reason to think" the plans might harm the economy.

Under the proposed new rules, low-skilled workers entering the UK from EU countries will instead be asked to apply for short-term visas of up to a year. 

The government also said it plans to ditch the existing cap on skilled workers coming into the country, and to seek a consultation on installing a minimum salary requirement of £30,000 a year for skilled EU migrants on five-year visas. This already applies to non-EU workers in most cases.

Meanwhile visitors from the EU will not need visas for entry. The plans are scheduled to be phased in from 2021.

The proposals follow a report by the Migration Advisory Committee in September which said the UK should not give preferential treatment to EU workers.

Javid described the immigration white paper as "delivering on the clear instruction to get control over our borders and will bring in a new system that works in the interest of the British people.

"It will be a single, skills-based immigration system built around the talent and expertise people can bring, rather than where they come from – maximising the benefits of immigration and demonstrating the UK is open for business."