Britain’s new immigration rules will restrict low-skilled workers

LONDON — To a chorus of complaints from employers, Britain said on Wednesday that it would slam the door on low-skilled workers as it moved to cut overall immigration by locking migrants from Europe and elsewhere out of sectors like catering, construction, senior care and hospitality.

Under new post-Brexit rules starting next January, migrants will have to meet a number of criteria to qualify for a work visa, including specific skills and an ability to speak English.

Applicants will also be required to have a job offer with a minimum salary threshold of about $33,300. (Salary requirements are lower for certain job categories with critical shortages, such as nursing.)

That could have a chilling effect on recruitment for jobs that Britons seem to want to avoid, and at a time when many economists say the country is effectively at full employment.

Immigration was one of the driving forces behind the 2016 Brexit referendum. And after that vote, immigration from within continental Europe dropped. But with more migrants now coming to Britain from outside the European Union than from within the bloc, the Conservative government has continually failed to make good on its promises to cut net immigration levels.

On Wednesday, the government said that it would prioritize people with skills and that employers would have to wean themselves off a seemingly inexhaustible supply of cheap labor.

“Today is a historic moment for the whole country,” the home secretary, Priti Patel, whose remit includes immigration, said in a statement. “We’re ending free movement, taking back control of our borders and delivering on the people’s priorities by introducing a new U.K. points-based immigration system, which will bring overall migration numbers down.”

She said the new system...