Sage advice here from Colin Yeo

Home Office monthly stats are out today.The data show that applications for Health & Care and Skilled Worker visas continue to fall. Meanwhile, the share of dependants is rising in both routes, even after restrictions on H&C dependants. What’s driving this trend is not entirely clear. Any thoughts?💡

Book review: What is immigration policy for? By Madeleine Sumption - Free Movement Madeleine Sumption's newly published book, 'What is immigration policy for?', is essential reading for politicians and policy-makers. It is succinct, really

New from Free Movement: Book review: What is immigration policy for? By Madeleine Sumption | Colin Yeo

Wow, thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you liked the book

Our Director @msumption.bsky.social talks to the Migration Policy Institute about her new book on immigration policy and why it is so difficult for governments to manage
@migrationpolicy.bsky.social

New Book: What Is Immigration Policy For? By Madeleine Sumption

📗 New Publication: What Is Immigration Policy For? by Madeleine Sumption (Director @migobs.bsky.social)
Could #ImmigrationPolicy be done better?
Drawing on decades of research, @msumption.bsky.social explores what immigration policy seeks to achieve.
www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/article/new-...

Thanks!

What Is Immigration Policy For? (What Is It For?) Buy What Is Immigration Policy For? (What Is It For?) by Madeleine Sumption (ISBN: 9781529238587) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

Published today! My take on why it’s so difficult for governments to make immigration policies that people trust

What Is Immigration Policy For?

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Colin Yeo? www.amazon.co.uk/Welcome-Brit...

Hear from @msumption.bsky.social Director of @migobs.bsky.social at COMPAS, as she explores the complexities, debates, and trade-offs surrounding immigration policy, and answers the question: what is it all for?

Read the blog and pre-order Madeleine's book 🔗 www.compas.ox.ac.uk/article/what...

253. The truth about immigration - who is coming and who is leaving? Spotify video

Our director @msumption.bsky.social went on the Rest is Money to talk about her new book plus how migration affects public finances, employers, and UK workers. Catch up here open.spotify.com/episode/3dqC...

There's 25% off pre-orders today and tomorrow here

www.waterstones.com/book/what-is...

What is immigration policy for? - UK in a changing Europe Madeleine Sumption looks at immigration policy and the surrounding debate and explains the inherent competing policy objectives and trade-offs.

Preview of my new book here, courtesy the lovely folk at @ukandeu.bsky.social

ukandeu.ac.uk/what-is-immi...

What is immigration policy for?

Our wonderful director, @msumption.bsky.social, answers this question in her new book.

You can pre-order Madeleine’s book using the code FEB26 for 25% off. Offer ends 20 Feb.

🔗www.waterstones.com/campaign/february-pre-or... #WPreorder

What is immigration policy for? - UK in a changing Europe Madeleine Sumption looks at immigration policy and the surrounding debate and explains the inherent competing policy objectives and trade-offs.

"But the inevitable trade-offs immigration policy presents mean that the reality is messier and more complicated than it might initially seem."

📖 @msumption.bsky.social looks at what immigration policy is for and explains the trade-offs ahead of her forthcoming book

🔗 ukandeu.ac.uk/what-is-immi...

25% discount on my new book today and tomorrow, for anyone interested in an accessible overview of why immigration is difficult and unpopular

Hong Kong BN(O) Migrants Panel Survey Wave 2 Result Seminar Discover Wave 1 & 2 findings of the BN(O) Panel Survey on 11 Feb 2026. Panels on community and research findings. Join us for insights!

Five years on: Hong Kong migrants to the UK under the HK BN(O) visa scheme.

Findings from our @ukri.org funded survey,led by Tak Wing Chan (UCL), with me, @msumption.bsky.social @benbrindle.bsky.social

Wed, 2pm, at UCL

Register here:

www.eventbrite.com/e/hong-kong-...

Well indeed. The reason non-uk nurses aren’t coming to the UK any more is that the NHS stopped recruiting them.

I think I heard @jburnmurdoch.ft.com say this increase is down to a a change in the way the numbers are calculated rather than a major shift in migration patterns.

New data provides fascinating insights into outcomes of recent refugees granted status between 2015 and 2020

Both asylum (ARR) and resettled refugees (RR) struggled in labour market, but particular the latter - likely reflecting that many were selected based on vulnerability

link to data in reply

Useful new stats from Home Office on how asylum applicants travel to the UK

Significant increase in applications from people on visas (mostly work, study or visit), not just small boats

Also large differences by nationality: Pakistani and Bangladeshi applicants much more likely to come on visas

I think the "it's all about Brexit" argument has been overstated but I also suspect that UK access to Eurodac could make a reasonably significant difference

There has been some interesting, more recent qualitative evidence that being refused in Europe or not wanting to be moved within the EU under Dublin rules has become a significant reason for coming to the UK, but very hard to know the scale of this phenomenon

➤ UK will prioritise applications for transfers to UK (criteria not specified)
➤ Ppl deemed a security threat can’t be transferred in either direction
2/2

UK/France: Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys [CS France No.2/2025] This treaty was presented to Parliament in August 2025.

Text of the UK-France small boats treaty published. Key points:

➤ Process to take up to 3 months from arrival in UK
➤ Doesn’t apply to unaccompanied minors
➤ FR can refuse to accept specific ppl back & will give aggregated data on reasons for refusals... 1/2

www.gov.uk/government/p...

I’ve always wondered how employers & workers split the cost of UK immigration fees

Here it is for Skilled Worker visas from a Home Office survey of sponsors

Surprisingly little variation by industry/employer size (in underlying data tables)

www.gov.uk/government/p...

The sadist assault on the ‘Coldplay couple’

unherd.com/2025/07/the-...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

Nice paper on Australian regional visas, which push migrants to live outside of major metro areas

Ppl on regional visas much more likely to stay in the 'regions' if they were in cities, not remote/rural areas

Middle-aged migrants w kids most likely to stay put

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Makes sense given that the argument that refugees provide significant economic benefits are actually substantively not particularly convincing

Interesting paper: survey experiment finds US public are unconvinced by economic arguments in favour of admitting refugees, more convinced by moral arguments

Legal arguments only convincing on the left

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

@sblinder.bsky.social