Migrant Families Cost £5 Billion to Bring to Britain

Reuniting migrant families is set to cost the British taxpayer £5.6 billion over the course of their lifetimes, research by the Government’s Migration Advisory Committee has found. The Telegraph has the story.

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) calculated that each of the 40,000-plus migrant partners who have been granted family visas to come to the UK every year will cost the state £109,000 over their lifetimes.

It said their fiscal impact was positive for the first two decades after they arrived, as a significant number got jobs, but this was not enough to offset the health and care costs that the state would have to fund in their old age.

The MAC warned ministers that granting migrants indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after five years of residency resulted in a significant rise in taxpayers’ costs as it meant they became eligible for benefits.

They estimated that in just the three years after being granted ILR, the cohort of migrants granted the right to join their partners would claim £109 million at an average rate of £2,400 per person.

The net costs come on top of the estimated £300,000 that each successful asylum seeker will cost the state over their lifetimes. By contrast, British residents in the same age range as those on the partner visa will contribute £110,000 to the economy in their lifetimes.

The research will reinforce plans by Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, to curb the right of migrants to bring their families to the UK.

Under measures announced last month, refugees will lose their automatic right to bring their families to the UK and will only be able to do so if they are working and earning salaries of at least £29,000 a year.

The time they have to wait before they can seek ILR will also be extended from five to 10 years of residency, and up to 20 years for migrants who entered the UK illegally. They will also only be able to get ILR if they are working, will not claim benefits and will need to have have spotless criminal record.

Note this relates to families of regular migrants. Refugees and asylum seekers are another matter entirely:

The MAC forecast that refugee and humanitarian routes will impose a “significant negative lifetime fiscal cost”.

The MAC said this was largely because of their low employment rates and wages, high rates of joblessness and their exemption from the NRPF rule which meant they could claim benefits as soon as their asylum claim was granted. …

The MAC cited research from Australia which showed the net fiscal impact of resettled refugees cost the Australian taxpayer A$400,000 (£300,220) compared with A$85,000 (£63,790) for the resident population.

“Note that many of those who enter through the asylum route will also have incurred substantial additional costs from being housed in asylum accommodation,” it added.

Worth reading in full.