The Johnson policy simultaneously liberalised immigration pathways for non-EU applicants.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
There was also a dedicated health and care worker visa with fast-track processing and lower fees.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The three most recent years for which we have data, 2022 to 2024, showed total net international migration at about 18,500.<\/p>\n
But the national origins of the people coming is very different.<\/p>\n
We can see that through National Insurance registrations, which helps us assess the numbers of working-age people.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In the same period Polish registrations went from 2,700 to 110. For Lithuanians 1,050 to 100.<\/p>\n
The impact of international students can also be seen.<\/p>\n
A decade ago there were just 85 Indian students enrolled at university in Northern Ireland, by 2022 it was more than 2,000.<\/p>\n
These sorts of changes have been seen across the UK and are referred to, sometimes disparagingly, as the “Boriswave.”<\/p>\n
The Labour government has framed this period, which saw record high migration to the UK, as a failed “open borders experiment.”<\/p>\n