Rishi Sunak will unveil a major set of measures on Monday to bring down net migration to the UK after figures reached a record high.
The prime minister is to dramatically overhaul a series of rules to curb net migration after the Office for National Statistics revealed the figures stood at 745,000 in 2022.
Mr Sunak is expected to drastically increase the salary threshold for migrants coming to the UK to work as part of a wide-ranging shakeup.
He has been under severe pressure from right-wing Tory MPs to act since the immigration figures were released, with former home secretary Suella Braverman describing them as a “slap in the face”.
She called on the PM to immediately take steps to curb the numbers, including measures such as capping net migration and raising the minimum salary threshold for overseas workers.
The threshold is currently £26,200 and will be hiked to £38,000 on Monday, The Sun reported.
Meanwhile a senior Whitehall source told The Daily Telegraph that people “will be surprised at how strong a package it is”.
It added that the number of dependents that social care workers are allowed to bring to Britain with them will also be scaled back.
And it said there will be an overhaul of the shortage occupation list, under which companies can pay foreign workers in shortage areas 20 per cent below the going rate.
It is not clear whether Mr Sunak will limit the total number of NHS and social care visas – a move immigration minister Robert Jenrick has been pushing for under a five-point plan.
Mr Jenrick is also thought to have pushed for an increase in the minimum £18,600 income required for a UK citizen to bring a dependant into the UK on a family visa.
The immigration minister told MPs last week that his own immigration plan “would have been brought to the House before last Christmas if I could have done” – hinting that it had been blocked by No 10.
Mr Jenrick – a close ally of the sacked home secretary Suella Braverman – also suggested he was keen to consider her idea of a radical “Australia-style” cap on annual net migration numbers.
“There are definitely strong arguments for using caps, whether in general or on specific visas – but these are conversations that we need to conclude within government,” Mr Jenrick told parliament.