The Johnson policy simultaneously liberalised immigration pathways for non-EU applicants.
The general minimum skill requirement was lowered, from graduate level to A-level equivalent, and the Resident Labour Market Test, which required companies to prove they could not hire locally first, was abolished.
There was also a dedicated health and care worker visa with fast-track processing and lower fees.
After pandemic travel restrictions were removed there was an increase in international immigration to Northern Ireland when compared to the levels seen throughout the 2010s.
It was still lower than the peak period in the 2000s: from 2006 to 2008 total net international migration to Northern Ireland was about 22,000.
The three most recent years for which we have data, 2022 to 2024, showed total net international migration at about 18,500.
But the national origins of the people coming is very different.
We can see that through National Insurance registrations, which helps us assess the numbers of working-age people.
In 2014 just 260 Indian people applied for a National Insurance number, but by 2024 it was 1,200. For Nigerians the numbers moved from 50 to 330. For Pakistanis 60 to 370.
In the same period Polish registrations went from 2,700 to 110. For Lithuanians 1,050 to 100.
The impact of international students can also be seen.
A decade ago there were just 85 Indian students enrolled at university in Northern Ireland, by 2022 it was more than 2,000.
These sorts of changes have been seen across the UK and are referred to, sometimes disparagingly, as the “Boriswave.”
The Labour government has framed this period, which saw record high migration to the UK, as a failed “open borders experiment.”
It has tightened up many of the Johnson-era visa schemes which has seen migration fall dramatically from its 2023 peak.
The next official figures for Northern Ireland are due later this year and will show what impact the change of policy has had here.